T1069.002

Domain Groups

Adversaries may attempt to find domain-level groups and permission settings. The knowledge of domain-level permission groups can help adversaries determine which groups exist and which users belong to a particular group. Adversaries may use this information to determine which users have elevated permissions, such as domain administrators. Commands such as net group /domain, dscacheutil -q group on macOS, and ldapsearch on Linux can list domain-level groups. Tools such as BloodHound, AdFind, and AD Explorer are also commonly used for this purpose by threat actors including OilRig, FIN7, Volt Typhoon, LAPSUS$, and ToddyCat.

Microsoft Sentinel / Defender
kusto
let DomainGroupCommands = dynamic([
  "net group", "net localgroup /domain",
  "Get-ADGroup", "Get-ADGroupMember",
  "dsquery group", "dsget group",
  "adfind", "AdFind",
  "ldapsearch",
  "dscacheutil",
  "Get-DomainGroup", "Get-NetGroup",
  "PowerView",
  "System.DirectoryServices",
  "DirectorySearcher",
  "samAccountType",
  "objectClass=group"
]);
let SuspiciousTools = dynamic([
  "adfind.exe", "AdFind.exe",
  "SharpHound.exe", "bloodhound.exe",
  "ADExplorer.exe", "adexplorer64.exe",
  "ldapsearch"
]);
let NetGroupEvents = DeviceProcessEvents
| where Timestamp > ago(24h)
| where FileName =~ "net.exe" or FileName =~ "net1.exe"
| where ProcessCommandLine has "group" and (
    ProcessCommandLine has "/domain" or
    ProcessCommandLine has "domain admins" or
    ProcessCommandLine has "enterprise admins" or
    ProcessCommandLine has "domain controllers" or
    ProcessCommandLine has "schema admins" or
    ProcessCommandLine has "group policy creator"
  )
| extend DetectionSource = "net group /domain";
let PowerShellADEvents = DeviceProcessEvents
| where Timestamp > ago(24h)
| where FileName in~ ("powershell.exe", "pwsh.exe")
| where ProcessCommandLine has_any ("Get-ADGroup", "Get-ADGroupMember", "Get-DomainGroup", "Get-NetGroup", "DirectorySearcher", "objectClass=group", "samAccountType")
| extend DetectionSource = "PowerShell AD Group Enumeration";
let ToolBasedEvents = DeviceProcessEvents
| where Timestamp > ago(24h)
| where FileName has_any (SuspiciousTools)
| extend DetectionSource = "Known AD Enumeration Tool";
let DSQueryEvents = DeviceProcessEvents
| where Timestamp > ago(24h)
| where FileName in~ ("dsquery.exe", "dsget.exe")
| where ProcessCommandLine has "group"
| extend DetectionSource = "dsquery/dsget group enumeration";
union NetGroupEvents, PowerShellADEvents, ToolBasedEvents, DSQueryEvents
| extend IsElevatedContext = AccountName in~ ("Administrator", "SYSTEM") or InitiatingProcessFileName in~ ("cmd.exe", "powershell.exe", "wscript.exe", "cscript.exe", "mshta.exe")
| extend TargetingPrivilegedGroups = ProcessCommandLine has_any ("domain admins", "enterprise admins", "schema admins", "administrators", "domain controllers")
| project Timestamp, DeviceName, AccountName, AccountDomain, FileName,
         ProcessCommandLine, InitiatingProcessFileName, InitiatingProcessCommandLine,
         InitiatingProcessAccountName, DetectionSource, IsElevatedContext, TargetingPrivilegedGroups
| sort by Timestamp desc
medium severity high confidence

Data Sources

Process: Process Creation Command: Command Execution Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Required Tables

DeviceProcessEvents

False Positives

  • IT administrators running legitimate Active Directory audits or health checks using net group or PowerShell AD cmdlets
  • Helpdesk staff using AD management tools to look up group memberships when resolving user access issues
  • Monitoring and SIEM agents (e.g., Microsoft Defender for Identity, CrowdStrike Falcon) performing scheduled AD enumeration as part of their normal operation
  • Automated scripts used during onboarding or offboarding processes that check group membership to provision or deprovision access
  • Vulnerability scanners and compliance tools (e.g., Tenable, Qualys) that enumerate AD groups as part of their assessment scope

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