huntrule

PowerShell Local Group Discovery via Get-LocalGroup and Get-LocalGroupMember (Windows)

Identifies PowerShell commands enumerating local groups and their members, indicating potential local permission discovery.

FreeReviewedSigma · Low · v2
Product
windows
Category
ps_module
Author
frack113 (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2021-12-12
Updated
2026-07-31
AnalysisDetection

ATT&CK techniques

Discovery

  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Initial Access

  4. Execution

  5. Persistence

  6. Priv Esc

  7. Defense Evasion

  8. Cred Access

  9. Discovery

  10. Lateral Movement

  11. Collection

  12. C2

  13. Exfiltration

  14. Impact

What it detects

This rule identifies PowerShell activity that queries local group names and group membership using Get-LocalGroup and Get-LocalGroupMember, including similar WMI-based group enumeration. Such discovery helps an attacker understand local permissions and identify which users belong to privileged local groups. It relies on telemetry containing the command text in PowerShell module/cmdlet execution fields (Payload and ContextInfo), including WMI calls that reference the Win32_Group class.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1069.001 — drag to rearrange
Suspicious Group Discovery - Command (via process_creation)
Suspicious Group Discovery - PowerShell (via powershell)
Windows PowerShell module commandlet names matching known exploitation and post-exploitation tooling
Windows Process Creation: Suspicious PowerShell Commandlets Used by Known Exploitation Tools
Windows file creation for SharpHound/BloodHound collection output filenames
PowerShell Module: Get-SmbShare Used for SMB Share Discovery
PowerShell module enumeration of AD principals via get-ADPrincipalGroupMembership
PowerShell ScriptBlock Enumeration of AD Group Membership and User Attributes (Windows)
Windows PowerShell: Query SMB Shares via Get-SmbShare
PowerShell Local Group Discovery via Get-LocalGroup and Get-LocalGroupMember (Windows)
Pivot detection · T1069.001 · 9 related

Changelog

v2
  1. v2
    Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
  2. v1
    No changelog recorded for this version.2026-07-30

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