Malicious NTDS Extraction via Ntdsutil IFM Snapshot
- Product
- windows
- Category
- process_creation
- Author
- HuntRule
- Published
- 2026-09-26
- Updated
- 2026-09-26
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 ntdsutil.exe creating an Install From Media snapshot which APT41 abuses to dump the Active Directory NTDS.dit database and SYSTEM hive from a domain controller. The technique harvests every domain credential hash for lateral movement. It is high value because legitimate IFM creation is rare and tightly scoped.
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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