Detection rules › Splunk
NTDSUtil.exe execution (Windows Event Log)
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Security-Auditing | Event ID 4688 | A new process has been created. |
Rule body yaml
id: '6589.7619'
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_winevent` (TERM(EventCode=4688) OR
"<EventID>4688<") "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 event logs
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_winevent` (TERM(EventCode=4688) OR "<EventID>4688<") "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 |
|
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>4688<" |
| 1 | "ntdsutil" |