Malicious NTDS.dit Extraction via ntdsutil IFM Snapshot (via process_creation)
- Product
- windows
- Category
- process_creation
- Author
- HuntRule
- Published
- 2026-07-23
- Updated
- 2026-08-28
ATT&CK techniques
Cred AccessRecon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact
What it detects
This rule detects use of ntdsutil to create an install-from-media snapshot, the technique Storm-1175 uses to extract the NTDS.dit Active Directory database and steal domain credential hashes during Medusa ransomware operations. Adversaries dump NTDS.dit to obtain every domain account hash for offline cracking and mass lateral movement, so this command on a domain controller is a critical credential-access alert.
Reporting behind it
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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