Suspicious PowerView In-Memory Domain Reconnaissance via Local DownloadString and Invoke-FindLocalAdminAccess (via ps_script)

ATT&CK techniques

Discovery

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
- T1018Remote System Discovery
- T1069.002Domain Groups
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects PowerView domain-reconnaissance cmdlets such as Invoke-FindLocalAdminAccess and Get-DomainComputer being loaded in memory through a localhost DownloadString cradle, as captured by script block logging during the Nitrogen Sliver intrusion. Adversaries run PowerView to map local-admin access and server inventory ahead of lateral movement, so these cmdlet names combined with an IEX web cradle indicate active Active Directory enumeration.

Reporting behind it

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Suspicious Active Directory Reconnaissance Commands (via process_creation)

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Suspicious PowerView In-Memory Domain Reconnaissance via Local DownloadString and Invoke-FindLocalAdminAccess (via ps_script)

Pivot detection · T1018 · 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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