huntrule

Windows: User Added to Local Remote Desktop Users Group via Net or PowerShell

Detects Windows command-line activity that adds a user to the local Remote Desktop Users group using net localgroup or Add-LocalGroupMember.

FreeReviewedSigma · High · v1
Product
windows
Category
process_creation
Author
Florian Roth (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2021-12-06
Updated
2026-07-30
AnalysisDetection

ATT&CK techniques

Initial Access → Lateral Movement

  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 process executions that add an account to the local "Remote Desktop Users" group using either the net command ("localgroup" with "/add") or PowerShell ("Add-LocalGroupMember"). Adding users to this group can enable interactive remote access, increasing persistence and facilitating lateral movement. It relies on Windows process creation telemetry capturing command-line arguments that include the group name and the add operation.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1133 — drag to rearrange
OpenCanary RDP New Connection Attempt on Application Logtype 14001
Suspicious Reverse SSH Tunnel Creation with Host Key Verification Disabled (via process_creation)
Suspicious TermService ServiceDll Hijack via Registry (via registry_set)
Suspicious Local Administrator Account Creation via Net Command via Process Creation (via process_creation)
Suspicious Shell Script Execution From Temp Directory on SonicWall SMA1000 Appliance (via process_creation)
Possible PAN-OS CVE-2026-0257 Exploitation via GlobalProtect PoC Artifacts (via network)
Suspicious Rogue Machine Account Creation via Powermad New-MachineAccount
Suspicious RDP Connection File Opened From Download or Mail Directory via Process Creation
Malicious Local Administrator Account Added via net localgroup (via process_creation)
Windows: User Added to Local Remote Desktop Users Group via Net or PowerShell
Pivot detection · T1133 · 9 related

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