Windows Default Domain GPO Modification

Status: experimental
Severity: medium
Log source: product windows, service security
Author: Swachchhanda Shrawan Poudel (Nextron Systems)
Source: github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma

Detects modifications to Default Domain or Default Domain Controllers Group Policy Objects (GPOs). Adversaries may modify these default GPOs to deploy malicious configurations across the domain.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Privilege Escalation	`T1484.001` Domain or Tenant Policy Modification: Group Policy Modification
Defense Impairment	`T1484.001` Domain or Tenant Policy Modification: Group Policy Modification

Event coverage

Provider	Event	Title
Security-Auditing	Event ID 5136	A directory service object was modified.

Rule body yaml

title: Windows Default Domain GPO Modification
id: e5ac86dd-2da1-454b-be74-05d26c769d7d
related:
    - id: dcff7e85-d01f-4eb5-badd-84e2e6be8294
      type: similar
status: experimental
description: |
    Detects modifications to Default Domain or Default Domain Controllers Group Policy Objects (GPOs).
    Adversaries may modify these default GPOs to deploy malicious configurations across the domain.
references:
    - https://www.trendmicro.com/en_us/research/25/i/unmasking-the-gentlemen-ransomware.html
    - https://adsecurity.org/?p=3377
    - https://www.pentestpartners.com/security-blog/living-off-the-land-gpo-style/
    - https://jgspiers.com/audit-group-policy-changes/
author: Swachchhanda Shrawan Poudel (Nextron Systems)
date: 2025-11-22
tags:
    - attack.privilege-escalation
    - attack.defense-impairment
    - attack.t1484.001
logsource:
    product: windows
    service: security
    definition: |
        Enable 'Audit Directory Service Changes' in the Default Domain Controllers Policy under:
        Computer Configuration -> Policies -> Windows Settings -> Security Settings -> Advanced Audit Policy Configuration -> Audit Policies -> DS Access -> Audit Directory Service Changes (Success).
        Additionally, proper SACL needs to be configured on the 'CN=Policies,CN=System,DC=<domain>,DC=<tld>' container in Active Directory to capture changes to Group Policy Objects.
detection:
    selection:
        EventID: 5136
        ObjectClass: 'groupPolicyContainer'
        ObjectDN|startswith:
            - 'CN={31B2F340-016D-11D2-945F-00C04FB984F9},CN=POLICIES,CN=SYSTEM' # Default Domain Policy
            - 'CN={6AC1786C-016F-11D2-945F-00C04FB984F9},CN=POLICIES,CN=SYSTEM' # Default Domain Controllers Policy
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate modifications to Default Domain or Default Domain Controllers GPOs
level: medium

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

selection

Stage 1: `selection`

selection:
    EventID: 5136
    ObjectClass: 'groupPolicyContainer'
    ObjectDN|startswith:
        - 'CN={31B2F340-016D-11D2-945F-00C04FB984F9},CN=POLICIES,CN=SYSTEM'
        - 'CN={6AC1786C-016F-11D2-945F-00C04FB984F9},CN=POLICIES,CN=SYSTEM'

Indicators

Each row is a field, operator, and value that the rule matches. The corpus column counts how many other rules in the catalog look for the same combination: high numbers point to widely-used, community-vetted indicators. Blank or 1 shows that the indicator is specific to this rule.

Field	Kind	Values
`ObjectClass`	eq	`groupPolicyContainer` corpus 6 (sigma 3, splunk 3)
`ObjectDN`	starts_with	`CN={31B2F340-016D-11D2-945F-00C04FB984F9},CN=POLICIES,CN=SYSTEM` `CN={6AC1786C-016F-11D2-945F-00C04FB984F9},CN=POLICIES,CN=SYSTEM`

`j` / `k`	Scroll down / up
`d` / `u`	Half-page down / up
`gg` / `G`	Top / bottom
`h` / `l`	History back / forward
`f`	Follow link (`Shift` = new tab)
`/`	Focus search
`?`	Toggle this help
`↑` / `↓`	Navigate search results
`Enter`	Open highlighted result
`Esc`	Close results / dialog

`type:`	`events` / `rules` / `providers`
`vendor:`	`sigma` / `elastic` / `splunk` / `kusto` / `chronicle` (vendor name alone also works: `sigma:`, `kql:`, `secops:`…)
`tactic:`	TA-id, slug, or name: `credential_access`, `TA0006`
`technique:`	technique or sub-technique ID: `T1003`, `T1003.001` (alias `tech:`)
`severity:`	`critical` / `high` / `medium` / `low` / `informational` (alias `sev:`)
`risk_score`	Numeric comparison on the Elastic risk score (0 to 100): `risk_score>50`, `risk_score<=20`, `risk_score=99` (alias `risk`; Elastic rules only)
`stages:`	Rules with exactly N pipeline stages
`correlation:`	`single_event` / `sequence` / `alternatives` / `alternatives_cross_log` / `all_required` / `correlated`
`with:`	Co-occurrence event-id; stacks (`with:4624 with:4769`) to require all, while a comma list in one occurrence (`with:4624,4769`) is an either-or group. Implies multi-event
`like:`	Structural neighbors of a rule slug (equivalents + subsumption stricter / broader): `like:comsvcs_lsass_memory_dump-splunk-sysmon`
`groupby:`	Entity-grouping substring match against `group_by_keys`: `groupby:user`, `groupby:host`
`uses:`	Rules whose predicate tree touches the field (any kind, any value): `uses:CommandLine`
`excludes:`	Rules with top-level `not()` clauses on the field (FP whitelists): `excludes:ParentImage`
`field:` / `value:`	Predicate search; narrows rule cards to those with a matching leaf and drives the indicator tier. Unquoted = substring, wildcards allowed (`value:mimikatz`)
`indicator:`	Shorthand for `field:F value:V`: `indicator:Image=*\powershell.exe`
`kind:`	Filter by predicate kind. Narrows rule cards to those carrying a matching predicate leaf (`vendor:elastic kind:cidr_match`) and drives the indicator tier: `contains` / `starts_with` / `ends_with` / `regex` / `cidr` / `eq` / `in` … (operator aliases `op:`/`match:`)
`has:` / `no:`	`sample`, `field`, `notes`, `refs`, `trace`, `thirdparty`, `rule`, `pattern`, `timewindow`, `threshold`, `newterms`, `sigma`/`elastic`/`splunk`/`kusto`/`chronicle`
`-op:val`	Exclude matches; works on most operators but not `type:`/`like:`/`has:`/`no:` (use `no:<flag>` to exclude a rule flag): `tactic:execution -vendor:splunk`. Standalone `-kind:`/`-field:`/`-value:` drop every rule carrying a matching predicate leaf (`type:rules -kind:is_null`)
`field:"…"` / `value:"…"`	Quoted value = anchored exact match (also allows spaces): `value:"net user"`
`a,b`	Comma = OR inside one operator (`vendor:sigma,elastic`, `severity:high,critical`); repeating a facet merges the same way. `field:`/`value:` never split (literal commas)
`vendors:` / `stage:`	Singular and plural spellings fold to the canonical operator and value: `tactics:` = `tactic:`, `type:event` = `type:events`, `correlation:sequences` = `correlation:sequence`, `has:thresholds` = `has:threshold`
`"quoted phrase"`	Exact-match a multi-word phrase (free text)

Windows Default Domain GPO Modification

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection`

Indicators

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

Windows Default Domain GPO Modification

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: condition

Stage 1: selection

Indicators

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection`