DSInternals Suspicious PowerShell Cmdlets

Hunt Hypothesis

Detects execution and usage of the DSInternals PowerShell module. Which can be used to perform what might be considered as suspicious activity such as dumping DPAPI backup keys or manipulating NTDS.DI

Detection Rule

Sigma (Original)

title: DSInternals Suspicious PowerShell Cmdlets
id: 43d91656-a9b2-4541-b7e2-6a9bd3a13f4e
related:
    - id: 846c7a87-8e14-4569-9d49-ecfd4276a01c
      type: similar
status: test
description: |
    Detects execution and usage of the DSInternals PowerShell module. Which can be used to perform what might be considered as suspicious activity such as dumping DPAPI backup keys or manipulating NTDS.DIT files.
    The DSInternals PowerShell Module exposes several internal features of Active Directory and Azure Active Directory. These include FIDO2 and NGC key auditing, offline ntds.dit file manipulation, password auditing, DC recovery from IFM backups and password hash calculation.
references:
    - https://github.com/MichaelGrafnetter/DSInternals/blob/39ee8a69bbdc1cfd12c9afdd7513b4788c4895d4/Src/DSInternals.PowerShell/DSInternals.psd1
author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems), Nounou Mbeiri
date: 2024-06-26
tags:
    - attack.execution
    - attack.t1059.001
logsource:
    product: windows
    category: process_creation
detection:
    selection:
        CommandLine|contains:
            - 'Add-ADDBSidHistory'
            - 'Add-ADNgcKey'
            - 'Add-ADReplNgcKey'
            - 'ConvertFrom-ADManagedPasswordBlob'
            - 'ConvertFrom-GPPrefPassword'
            - 'ConvertFrom-ManagedPasswordBlob'
            - 'ConvertFrom-UnattendXmlPassword'
            - 'ConvertFrom-UnicodePassword'
            - 'ConvertTo-AADHash'
            - 'ConvertTo-GPPrefPassword'
            - 'ConvertTo-KerberosKey'
            - 'ConvertTo-LMHash'
            - 'ConvertTo-MsoPasswordHash'
            - 'ConvertTo-NTHash'
            - 'ConvertTo-OrgIdHash'
            - 'ConvertTo-UnicodePassword'
            - 'Disable-ADDBAccount'
            - 'Enable-ADDBAccount'
            - 'Get-ADDBAccount'
            - 'Get-ADDBBackupKey'
            - 'Get-ADDBDomainController'
            - 'Get-ADDBGroupManagedServiceAccount'
            - 'Get-ADDBKdsRootKey'
            - 'Get-ADDBSchemaAttribute'
            - 'Get-ADDBServiceAccount'
            - 'Get-ADDefaultPasswordPolicy'
            - 'Get-ADKeyCredential' # Covers 'Get-ADKeyCredentialLink'
            - 'Get-ADPasswordPolicy'
            - 'Get-ADReplAccount'
            - 'Get-ADReplBackupKey'
            - 'Get-ADReplicationAccount'
            - 'Get-ADSIAccount'
            - 'Get-AzureADUserEx'
            - 'Get-BootKey'
            - 'Get-KeyCredential'
            - 'Get-LsaBackupKey'
            - 'Get-LsaPolicy' # Covers 'Get-LsaPolicyInformation'
            - 'Get-SamPasswordPolicy'
            - 'Get-SysKey'
            - 'Get-SystemKey'
            - 'New-ADDBRestoreFromMediaScript'
            - 'New-ADKeyCredential' # Covers 'New-ADKeyCredentialLink'
            - 'New-ADNgcKey'
            - 'New-NTHashSet'
            - 'Remove-ADDBObject'
            - 'Save-DPAPIBlob'
            - 'Set-ADAccountPasswordHash'
            - 'Set-ADDBAccountPassword' # Covers 'Set-ADDBAccountPasswordHash'
            - 'Set-ADDBBootKey'
            - 'Set-ADDBDomainController'
            - 'Set-ADDBPrimaryGroup'
            - 'Set-ADDBSysKey'
            - 'Set-AzureADUserEx'
            - 'Set-LsaPolicy' # Covers 'Set-LSAPolicyInformation'
            - 'Set-SamAccountPasswordHash'
            - 'Set-WinUserPasswordHash'
            - 'Test-ADDBPasswordQuality'
            - 'Test-ADPasswordQuality'
            - 'Test-ADReplPasswordQuality'
            - 'Test-PasswordQuality'
            - 'Unlock-ADDBAccount'
            - 'Write-ADNgcKey'
            - 'Write-ADReplNgcKey'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate usage of DSInternals for administration or audit purpose.
level: high

KQL (Azure Sentinel)

imProcessCreate
| where TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Add-ADDBSidHistory" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Add-ADNgcKey" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Add-ADReplNgcKey" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "ConvertFrom-ADManagedPasswordBlob" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "ConvertFrom-GPPrefPassword" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "ConvertFrom-ManagedPasswordBlob" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "ConvertFrom-UnattendXmlPassword" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "ConvertFrom-UnicodePassword" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "ConvertTo-AADHash" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "ConvertTo-GPPrefPassword" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "ConvertTo-KerberosKey" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "ConvertTo-LMHash" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "ConvertTo-MsoPasswordHash" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "ConvertTo-NTHash" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "ConvertTo-OrgIdHash" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "ConvertTo-UnicodePassword" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Disable-ADDBAccount" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Enable-ADDBAccount" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Get-ADDBAccount" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Get-ADDBBackupKey" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Get-ADDBDomainController" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Get-ADDBGroupManagedServiceAccount" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Get-ADDBKdsRootKey" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Get-ADDBSchemaAttribute" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Get-ADDBServiceAccount" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Get-ADDefaultPasswordPolicy" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Get-ADKeyCredential" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Get-ADPasswordPolicy" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Get-ADReplAccount" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Get-ADReplBackupKey" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Get-ADReplicationAccount" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Get-ADSIAccount" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Get-AzureADUserEx" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Get-BootKey" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Get-KeyCredential" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Get-LsaBackupKey" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Get-LsaPolicy" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Get-SamPasswordPolicy" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Get-SysKey" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Get-SystemKey" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "New-ADDBRestoreFromMediaScript" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "New-ADKeyCredential" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "New-ADNgcKey" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "New-NTHashSet" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Remove-ADDBObject" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Save-DPAPIBlob" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Set-ADAccountPasswordHash" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Set-ADDBAccountPassword" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Set-ADDBBootKey" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Set-ADDBDomainController" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Set-ADDBPrimaryGroup" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Set-ADDBSysKey" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Set-AzureADUserEx" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Set-LsaPolicy" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Set-SamAccountPasswordHash" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Set-WinUserPasswordHash" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Test-ADDBPasswordQuality" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Test-ADPasswordQuality" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Test-ADReplPasswordQuality" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Test-PasswordQuality" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Unlock-ADDBAccount" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Write-ADNgcKey" or TargetProcessCommandLine contains "Write-ADReplNgcKey"

Required Data Sources

False Positive Guidance

• Legitimate usage of DSInternals for administration or audit purpose.

MITRE ATT&CK Context

• Tactic: Execution
• Technique: T1059.001 — PowerShell

References

• https://github.com/MichaelGrafnetter/DSInternals/blob/39ee8a69bbdc1cfd12c9afdd7513b4788c4895d4/Src/DSInternals.PowerShell/DSInternals.psd1
• SigmaHQ Rule