Malicious NTDS.dit Extraction via ntdsutil IFM

ATT&CK techniques

Cred Access

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
- T1003.003NTDS
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects use of ntdsutil.exe with Install-From-Media (IFM) arguments to create a full copy of the Active Directory database, a technique observed in RansomHub affiliate intrusions deploying EDRKillShifter. Dumping NTDS.dit exposes every domain account hash and enables domain-wide credential compromise ahead of ransomware deployment.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1003.003 — drag to rearrange

Malicious NTDS Database Dump via Ntdsutil IFM (via process_creation)

Suspicious Active Directory Database Theft via ntds.dit Access

Active Directory Database Dump via Ntdsutil IFM

Malicious NTDS.dit Extraction via Ntdsutil (via process_creation)

Malicious NTDS Extraction via ntdsutil IFM (via process_creation)

Malicious NTDS Database Staging to Audit Directory (via file_event)

IFM Creation Detected from Commandline - Installation from Media (via process_creation)

Malicious Credential Hive Copy from Volume Shadow Copy

Malicious File Copy via Esentutl Volume Shadow Access (via process_creation)

Malicious NTDS.dit Extraction via ntdsutil IFM

Pivot detection · T1003.003 · 9 related

Detection content is published as a reviewed draft. Tune thresholds and exclusions against your own telemetry before enabling this rule for alerting.

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