Sigma rule: DirectorySearcher Powershell Exploitation

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-997c29d6ee51, updated 2022-02-12T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title: DirectorySearcher Powershell Exploitation
Status: test
Level: medium
Author: frack113
Date: 2022-02-12
File: rules/windows/powershell/powershell_script/posh_ps_directorysearcher.yml
Commit: ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Enumerates Active Directory to determine computers that are joined to the domain

Log source

product: windows
category: ps_script
definition: Requirements: Script Block Logging must be enabled

Detection

selection:
    ScriptBlockText|contains|all:
        - 'New-Object '
        - 'System.DirectoryServices.DirectorySearcher'
        - '.PropertiesToLoad.Add'
        - '.findall()'
        - 'Properties.name'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

Unknown

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

T1018

References

https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/f339e7da7d05f6057fdfcdd3742bfcf365fee2a9/atomics/T1018/T1018.md#atomic-test-15---enumerate-domain-computers-within-active-directory-using-directorysearcher

Read on 2026-11-03T00:58:21.399Z under licence sigma-drl-1.1@d5f4c36a from https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/powershell/powershell_script/posh_ps_directorysearcher.yml

Sources and licences

SigmaHQ
"DirectorySearcher Powershell Exploitation" by frack113 (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/powershell/powershell_script/posh_ps_directorysearcher.yml.
Licensed under the Detection Rule License (DRL) 1.1: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/Detection-Rule-License
Detection Rule License (DRL) 1.1

Cite this page

Dragons Eye Ransomware Tracker, "Sigma rule: DirectorySearcher Powershell Exploitation",
entity page, dataset version ref-997c29d6ee51, updated 2022-02-12T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/1f6399cf-2c80-4924-ace1-6fcff3393480 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 1f6399cf-2c80-4924-ace1-6fcff3393480, commit ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84.

Pages change. The dataset version identifies the data, but no archive of old versions is kept, so this citation cannot be replayed later.