NTDSUtil.exe execution (Sysmon)

Group by: _time, host
Source: github.com/anvilogic-forge/armory

ntdsutil.exe is a native Windows command line utility used to export Active Directory. Adversaries can utilize ntdsutil to potential dump credentials from files like ntds.dit

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Credential Access	`T1003.003` OS Credential Dumping: NTDS

References

Event coverage

Provider	Event	Title
Sysmon	Event ID 1	Process creation

Rule body yaml

id: '6589.18040'
title: NTDSUtil.exe execution
description: 'ntdsutil.exe is a native Windows command line utility used to export
  Active Directory. Adversaries can utilize ntdsutil to potential dump credentials
  from files like ntds.dit. Living Off the Land Binary and Scripts (LOLBAS) (LOLBIN)
  Threat Actor Association: APT29/Nobelium/Cozy Bear, CL-STA-0043, FIN6, FIN12, Lapsus$,
  TA428, Trickbot, Vice Society, Volt Typhoon, Wizard Spider Software Association:
  ALPHV/BlackCat, Bazar, BianLian, Conti, Hafnium, Lockbit, Prestige, Vice Society
  -- Atomics T1003.003 Test #3 -- #TrendingThreat #Russia #Ukraine'
logic_format: Splunk
logic: '`get_endpoint_data` `get_endpoint_data_sysmon` (TERM(EventCode=1) OR "<EventID>1<")
  "ntdsutil" | table _time, host, user user, process, process_*, parent_* | bin span=1s
  | stats values(*) as * by _time, host '
techniques:
- credential-access:os credential dumping:ntds
- credential-access:os credential dumping
technique_id:
- T1003.003
- T1003
data_category:
- Windows Sysmon
references:
- https://adsecurity.org/?p=2398#CreateIFM
- https://lolbas-project.github.io/lolbas/OtherMSBinaries/Ntdsutil/#dump

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: `search`

`get_endpoint_data` `get_endpoint_data_sysmon` (TERM(EventCode=1) OR "<EventID>1<") "ntdsutil"

Stage 2: `table`

| table _time, host, user user, process, process_*, parent_*

Stage 3: `bucket`

| bin span=1s

Stage 4: `stats`

| stats values(*) as * by _time, host

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
`EventCode`	eq	`1` corpus 237 (splunk 224, kusto 13)

Search terms

Bare-string tokens in the SPL search body. Splunk matches each token against _raw (the untyped raw event text) anywhere it appears, not against a specific field. These don't surface in the Indicators table because they aren't predicates on a known field.

Stage	Term
1	`TERM`
1	`"<EventID>1<"`
1	`"ntdsutil"`

`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)

NTDSUtil.exe execution (Sysmon)

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

References

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: `search`

Stage 2: `table`

Stage 3: `bucket`

Stage 4: `stats`

Indicators

Search terms

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

NTDSUtil.exe execution (Sysmon)

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

References

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: search

Stage 2: table

Stage 3: bucket

Stage 4: stats

Indicators

Search terms

Stage 1: `search`

Stage 2: `table`

Stage 3: `bucket`

Stage 4: `stats`