| ID | Name |
|---|---|
| T1136.001 | Local Account |
| T1136.002 | Domain Account |
| T1136.003 | Cloud Account |
Adversaries may create a domain account to maintain access to victim systems. Domain accounts are those managed by Active Directory Domain Services where access and permissions are configured across systems and services that are part of that domain. Domain accounts can cover user, administrator, and service accounts. With a sufficient level of access, the net user /add /domain command can be used to create a domain account.[1]
Such accounts may be used to establish secondary credentialed access that do not require persistent remote access tools to be deployed on the system.
| ID | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| C0028 | 2015 Ukraine Electric Power Attack |
During the 2015 Ukraine Electric Power Attack, Sandworm Team created privileged domain accounts to be used for further exploitation and lateral movement. [2] |
| C0025 | 2016 Ukraine Electric Power Attack |
During the 2016 Ukraine Electric Power Attack, Sandworm Team created two new accounts, "admin" and "система" (System). The accounts were then assigned to a domain matching local operation and were delegated new privileges.[3] |
| G1043 | BlackByte |
BlackByte created privileged domain accounts during intrusions.[4] |
| S0363 | Empire |
Empire has a module for creating a new domain user if permissions allow.[5] |
| G0093 | GALLIUM |
GALLIUM created high-privileged domain user accounts to maintain access to victim networks.[6][7] |
| G0125 | HAFNIUM | |
| G1051 | Medusa Group |
Medusa Group has created a domain account within the victim environment.[10] |
| S0039 | Net |
The |
| S0029 | PsExec |
PsExec has the ability to remotely create accounts on target systems.[11] |
| S0192 | Pupy |
Pupy can user PowerView to execute "net user" commands and create domain accounts.[12] |
| G0102 | Wizard Spider |
Wizard Spider has created and used new accounts within a victim's Active Directory environment to maintain persistence.[13] |
| ID | Mitigation | Description |
|---|---|---|
| M1032 | Multi-factor Authentication |
Use multi-factor authentication for user and privileged accounts. |
| M1030 | Network Segmentation |
Configure access controls and firewalls to limit access to domain controllers and systems used to create and manage accounts. |
| M1028 | Operating System Configuration |
Protect domain controllers by ensuring proper security configuration for critical servers. |
| M1026 | Privileged Account Management |
Limit the number of accounts with permissions to create other accounts. Do not allow domain administrator accounts to be used for day-to-day operations that may expose them to potential adversaries on unprivileged systems. |
| ID | Name | Analytic ID | Analytic Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| DET0003 | T1136.002 Detection Strategy - Domain Account Creation Across Platforms | AN0006 |
Adversary uses built-in tools such as 'net user /add /domain' or PowerShell to create a domain user account. The behavior chain includes: (1) suspicious process execution on a domain controller followed by (2) user account creation event (Event ID 4720) on the same host. |
| AN0007 |
Adversary with access to domain management tools (e.g., |
||
| AN0008 |
macOS clients joined to AD via LDAP may script account provisioning via |