GitHub Repo

Detection: Windows AD Privileged Group Modification

Updated Date: 2026-01-14 ID: 187bf937-c436-4c65-bbcb-7539ffe02da1 Author: Dean Luxton Type: TTP Product: Splunk Enterprise Security

Description

This detection identifies when users are added to privileged Active Directory groups by leveraging the Windows Security Event Code 4728 along with a lookup of privileged AD groups provided by Splunk Enterprise Security. Attackers often add user accounts to privileged AD groups to escalate privileges or maintain persistence within an Active Directory environment. Monitoring for modifications to privileged groups can help identify potential security breaches and unauthorized access attempts.

1`wineventlog_security` EventCode IN (4728) 
2| stats min(_time) as _time dc(user) as usercount, values(user) as user values(user_category) as user_category values(src_user_category) as src_user_category values(dvc) as dvc by signature, Group_Name,src_user dest 
3| lookup admon_groups_def  cn as Group_Name OUTPUT category 
4| where category="privileged" 
5| `windows_ad_privileged_group_modification_filter`

Data Source

Name Platform Sourcetype Source
Windows Event Log Security 4728 Windows icon Windows 'XmlWinEventLog' 'XmlWinEventLog:Security'

Macros Used

Name Value
wineventlog_security eventtype="wineventlog_security" OR Channel="security" OR source="XmlWinEventLog:Security" OR source="WinEventLog:Security"
windows_ad_privileged_group_modification_filter search *
windows_ad_privileged_group_modification_filter is an empty macro by default. It allows the user to filter out any results (false positives) without editing the SPL.

Annotations

- MITRE ATT&CK
+ Kill Chain Phases
+ NIST
+ CIS
- Threat Actors
ID Technique Tactic
T1098 Account Manipulation Persistence
Exploitation
Installation
DE.CM
CIS 10

Default Configuration

This detection is configured by default in Splunk Enterprise Security to run with the following settings:

Setting Value
Disabled true
Cron Schedule 0 * * * *
Earliest Time -70m@m
Latest Time -10m@m
Schedule Window auto
Creates Notable Yes
Rule Title %name%
Rule Description %description%
Notable Event Fields user, dest
Creates Risk Event True
This configuration file applies to all detections of type TTP. These detections will use Risk Based Alerting and generate Notable Events.

Implementation

This analytic requires eventCode 4728 to be ingested along with the admon_groups_def lookup being configured to include a list of AD groups along with a category to identify privileged groups. See splunkbase app listed in the references for further details.

Known False Positives

No false positives have been identified at this time.

Associated Analytic Story

Risk Based Analytics (RBA)

Risk Message:

$user$ was added to privileged AD Group $Group_Name$ by $src_user$

Risk Object Risk Object Type Risk Score Threat Objects
user user 50 No Threat Objects

References

Detection Testing

Test Type Status Dataset Source Sourcetype
Validation ✅ Passing N/A N/A N/A
Unit ✅ Passing Dataset XmlWinEventLog:Security XmlWinEventLog
Integration ✅ Passing Dataset XmlWinEventLog:Security XmlWinEventLog

Replay any dataset to Splunk Enterprise by using our replay.py tool or the UI. Alternatively you can replay a dataset into a Splunk Attack Range

Source: GitHub | Version: 7