Detection rules › Splunk
Windows Find Interesting ACL with FindInterestingDomainAcl
The following analytic detects the execution of the Find-InterestingDomainAcl cmdlet, part of the PowerView toolkit, using PowerShell Script Block Logging (EventCode=4104). This detection leverages logs to identify when this command is run, which is significant as adversaries may use it to find misconfigured or unusual Access Control Lists (ACLs) within a domain. If confirmed malicious, this activity could allow attackers to identify privilege escalation opportunities or weak security configurations in Active Directory, potentially leading to unauthorized access or further exploitation.
MITRE ATT&CK coverage
| Tactic | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Discovery | T1087.002 Account Discovery: Domain Account |
Event coverage
| Provider | Event | Title |
|---|---|---|
| PowerShell | Event ID 4104 | Creating Scriptblock text (MessageNumber of MessageTotal). |
Rule body splunk
name: Windows Find Interesting ACL with FindInterestingDomainAcl
id: e4a96dfd-667a-4487-b942-ccef5a1e81e8
version: 11
creation_date: '2023-09-01'
modification_date: '2026-05-13'
author: Gowthamaraj Rajendran, Mauricio Velazco, Splunk
status: production
type: TTP
description: The following analytic detects the execution of the `Find-InterestingDomainAcl` cmdlet, part of the PowerView toolkit, using PowerShell Script Block Logging (EventCode=4104). This detection leverages logs to identify when this command is run, which is significant as adversaries may use it to find misconfigured or unusual Access Control Lists (ACLs) within a domain. If confirmed malicious, this activity could allow attackers to identify privilege escalation opportunities or weak security configurations in Active Directory, potentially leading to unauthorized access or further exploitation.
data_source:
- Powershell Script Block Logging 4104
search: |-
`powershell` EventCode=4104 ScriptBlockText = "*Find-InterestingDomainAcl*"
| fillnull
| stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime
BY dest signature signature_id
user_id vendor_product EventID
Guid Opcode Name
Path ProcessID ScriptBlockId
ScriptBlockText
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
| `windows_find_interesting_acl_with_findinterestingdomainacl_filter`
how_to_implement: The following Hunting analytic requires PowerShell operational logs to be imported. Modify the powershell macro as needed to match the sourcetype or add index. This analytic is specific to 4104, or PowerShell Script Block Logging.
known_false_positives: Administrators may leverage PowerSploit tools for legitimate reasons, filter as needed.
references:
- https://powersploit.readthedocs.io/en/latest/Recon/Find-InterestingDomainAcl/
- https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1087/002/
- https://book.hacktricks.xyz/windows-hardening/basic-powershell-for-pentesters/powerview
drilldown_searches:
- name: View the detection results for - "$dest$" and "$user_id$"
search: '%original_detection_search% | search dest = "$dest$" user_id = "$user_id$"'
earliest_offset: $info_min_time$
latest_offset: $info_max_time$
- name: View risk events for the last 7 days for - "$dest$" and "$user_id$"
search: '| from datamodel Risk.All_Risk | search normalized_risk_object IN ("$dest$", "$user_id$") | stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime values(search_name) as "Search Name" values(risk_message) as "Risk Message" values(analyticstories) as "Analytic Stories" values(annotations._all) as "Annotations" values(annotations.mitre_attack.mitre_tactic) as "ATT&CK Tactics" by normalized_risk_object | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`'
earliest_offset: 7d
latest_offset: "0"
finding:
title: Suspicious PowerShell Find-InterestingDomainAcl was identified on endpoint $dest$ by user $user_id$.
entity:
field: user_id
type: user
score: 50
intermediate_findings:
entities:
- field: dest
type: system
score: 50
message: Suspicious PowerShell Find-InterestingDomainAcl was identified on endpoint $dest$ by user $user_id$.
analytic_story:
- Active Directory Discovery
asset_type: Endpoint
mitre_attack_id:
- T1087.002
product:
- Splunk Enterprise
- Splunk Enterprise Security
- Splunk Cloud
category: endpoint
security_domain: endpoint
tests:
- name: True Positive Test
attack_data:
- data: https://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/attack_techniques/T1087.002/AD_discovery/windows-powershell-interestingACL-xml.log
source: XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-PowerShell/Operational
sourcetype: XmlWinEventLog
test_type: unit
Stages and Predicates
Stage 1: search
`powershell` EventCode=4104 ScriptBlockText = "*Find-InterestingDomainAcl*"
Stage 2: fillnull
| fillnull
Stage 3: stats
| stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime
BY dest signature signature_id
user_id vendor_product EventID
Guid Opcode Name
Path ProcessID ScriptBlockId
ScriptBlockText
Stage 4: search
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
Stage 5: search
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
Stage 6: search
| `windows_find_interesting_acl_with_findinterestingdomainacl_filter`
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 |
|
ScriptBlockText | eq |
|