Windows PowerShell: Suspicious Get-ADDBAccount access to ntds.dit via BootKey and DatabasePath
Alerts on PowerShell invocations of Get-ADDBAccount that reference BootKey and DatabasePath for ntds.dit credential access.
- Product
- windows
- Category
- ps_module
- Author
- Florian Roth (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
- Published
- 2022-03-16
- Updated
- 2026-07-31
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 flags PowerShell module activity invoking Get-ADDBAccount with parameters indicating it will use BootKey and DatabasePath to read from an ntds.dit database. Attackers may use this to extract credential material without deploying common credential-dumping tools. It relies on PowerShell module telemetry capturing the script payload content, specifically the presence of Get-ADDBAccount along with BootKey and DatabasePath strings.
Reporting behind it
- n00py.iohttps://www.n00py.io/2022/03/manipulating-user-passwords-without-mimikatz/
- github.comhttps://github.com/MichaelGrafnetter/DSInternals/blob/7ba59c12ee9a1cb430d7dc186a3366842dd612c8/Documentation/PowerShell/Get-ADDBAccount.md
- github.comhttps://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/windows/powershell/powershell_module/posh_pm_get_addbaccount.yml
Changelog
v2- v2Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
- v1No 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.
title: "Windows PowerShell: Suspicious Get-ADDBAccount access to ntds.dit via BootKey and DatabasePath"
id: fd1ffc4f-7382-4fe2-85b8-fd7f9b25e0ec
status: test
description: This rule flags PowerShell module activity invoking Get-ADDBAccount with parameters indicating it will use BootKey and DatabasePath to read from an ntds.dit database. Attackers may use this to extract credential material without deploying common credential-dumping tools. It relies on PowerShell module telemetry capturing the script payload content, specifically the presence of Get-ADDBAccount along with BootKey and DatabasePath strings.
references:
- https://www.n00py.io/2022/03/manipulating-user-passwords-without-mimikatz/
- https://github.com/MichaelGrafnetter/DSInternals/blob/7ba59c12ee9a1cb430d7dc186a3366842dd612c8/Documentation/PowerShell/Get-ADDBAccount.md
- https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/windows/powershell/powershell_module/posh_pm_get_addbaccount.yml
author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), Huntrule Team
date: 2022-03-16
tags:
- attack.credential-access
- attack.t1003.003
logsource:
product: windows
category: ps_module
definition: 0ad03ef1-f21b-4a79-8ce8-e6900c54b65b
detection:
selection:
Payload|contains|all:
- Get-ADDBAccount
- "BootKey "
- "DatabasePath "
condition: selection
falsepositives:
- Unknown
level: high
license: DRL-1.1
related:
- id: b140afd9-474b-4072-958e-2ebb435abd68
type: derived