huntrule

PowerShell dMSA Service Account Creation in Target OUs via New-ADServiceAccount

Alerts on PowerShell creating a delegated service account via New-ADServiceAccount with -CreateDelegatedServiceAccount and -path.

FreeReviewedSigma · Medium · v2
Product
windows
Category
ps_script
Author
Swachchhanda Shrawan Poudel (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2025-05-24
Updated
2026-07-31
AnalysisDetection

ATT&CK techniques

Initial Access → Defense Evasion

  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 flags PowerShell activity where a script block contains New-ADServiceAccount along with -CreateDelegatedServiceAccount and -path parameters, indicating creation of a delegated managed service account in a specified OU. Attackers may abuse this account creation path to establish persistence or attempt privilege escalation in Active Directory environments. It relies on PowerShell script block text telemetry capturing the referenced cmdlet name and parameters.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1098 — drag to rearrange
Malicious Domain Admin Account Escalation via net group (via process_creation)
Windows: New-ADServiceAccount Creates Delegated Service Account in Target OUs
Windows PowerShell Modifies dMSA msDS-ManagedAccountPrecededByLink Attributes
Malicious Domain and Enterprise Admins Group Addition via net group Domain Add (via process_creation)
Suspicious Route53 Domain Transfer Lock Disabled via Scattered Spider Technique
Suspicious Domain Admin Account Creation via net (via process_creation)
Suspicious Guest Account Privilege Escalation (via process_creation)
Suspicious Login Shell Assigned to Service Account games on Linux
Suspicious dMSA Object Access with Migration AccessMask
PowerShell dMSA Service Account Creation in Target OUs via New-ADServiceAccount
Pivot detection · T1098 · 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.