Windows OS Credential Dumping with Ntdsutil Export NTDS

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Description

Monitor for signs that Ntdsutil is being used to Extract Active Directory database - NTDS.dit, typically used for offline password cracking. It may be used in normal circumstances with no command line arguments or shorthand variations of more common arguments. Ntdsutil.exe is typically seen run on a Windows Server. Typical command used to dump ntds.dit
ntdsutil "ac i ntds" "ifm" "create full C:\Temp" q q
This technique uses "Install from Media" (IFM), which will extract a copy of the Active Directory database. A successful export of the Active Directory database will yield a file modification named ntds.dit to the destination.

• Type: TTP

• Product: Splunk Behavioral Analytics

• Last Updated: 2022-08-31
• Author: Michael Haag, Splunk
• ID: dad9ddec-a72a-47be-87b6-a0f7ba98ed6e

Annotations

ATT&CK

ATT&CK

ID	Technique	Tactic
T1003.003	NTDS	Credential Access

T1003

OS Credential Dumping

Credential Access

Kill Chain Phase

• Exploitation

NIST

• DE.CM

CIS20

• CIS 10

CVE

Search

 $main = from source  
| eval timestamp = time  
| eval metadata_uid = metadata.uid  
| eval process_pid = process.pid 
| eval process_file = process.file 
| eval process_file_path = process_file.path 
| eval process_file_name = lower(process_file.name) 
| eval process_cmd_line = process.cmd_line 
| eval actor_user = actor.user 
| eval actor_user_name = actor_user.name 
| eval actor_process = actor.process 
| eval actor_process_pid = actor_process.pid 
| eval actor_process_file = actor_process.file 
| eval actor_process_file_path = actor_process_file.path 
| eval actor_process_file_name = actor_process_file.name 
| eval device_hostname = device.hostname 
| where process_file_name="ntdsutil.exe" AND (process_cmd_line LIKE "%create%" AND process_cmd_line LIKE "%ntds%") --finding_report--

Macros

The SPL above uses the following Macros:

windows_os_credential_dumping_with_ntdsutil_export_ntds_filter is a empty macro by default. It allows the user to filter out any results (false positives) without editing the SPL.

Required fields

List of fields required to use this analytic.

• process.pid
• process.file.path
• process.file.name
• process.cmd_line
• actor.user.name
• actor.process.pid
• actor.process.file.path
• actor.process.file.name
• device.hostname

How To Implement

To successfully implement this search, you need to be ingesting logs with the process name, parent process, and command-line executions from your endpoints. If you are using Sysmon, you must have at least version 6.0.4 of the Sysmon TA.

Known False Positives

Highly possible Server Administrators will troubleshoot with ntdsutil.exe, generating false positives.

Associated Analytic Story

• Credential Dumping
• HAFNIUM Group
• Living Off The Land
• Volt Typhoon

RBA

Risk Score	Impact	Confidence	Message
50.0	100	50	Active Directory NTDS export on $dest_device_id$ using $process_name$ by $dest_user_id$.

The Risk Score is calculated by the following formula: Risk Score = (Impact * Confidence/100). Initial Confidence and Impact is set by the analytic author.

Reference

• https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/master/atomics/T1003.003/T1003.003.md#atomic-test-3—dump-active-directory-database-with-ntdsutil
• https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-server-2012-R2-and-2012/cc753343(v=ws.11)
• https://2017.zeronights.org/wp-content/uploads/materials/ZN17_Kheirkhabarov_Hunting_for_Credentials_Dumping_in_Windows_Environment.pdf
• https://strontic.github.io/xcyclopedia/library/vss_ps.dll-97B15BDAE9777F454C9A6BA25E938DB3.html
• https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2023/05/24/volt-typhoon-targets-us-critical-infrastructure-with-living-off-the-land-techniques/

Test Dataset

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

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