Sigma rule: User Discovery And Export Via Get-ADUser Cmdlet - PowerShell

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-8459f370ae0b, updated 2022-11-17T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
User Discovery And Export Via Get-ADUser Cmdlet - PowerShell
Status
test
Level
medium
Author
Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
Date
2022-11-17
File
rules/windows/powershell/powershell_script/posh_ps_user_discovery_get_aduser.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects usage of the Get-ADUser cmdlet to collect user information and output it to a file

Log source

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

Detection

selection:
    ScriptBlockText|contains|all:
        - 'Get-ADUser '
        - ' -Filter \*'
    ScriptBlockText|contains:
        - ' > '
        - ' | Select '
        - 'Out-File'
        - 'Set-Content'
        - 'Add-Content'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Legitimate admin scripts may use the same technique, it's better to exclude specific computers or users who execute these commands or scripts often

Tags

  • attack.discovery
  • attack.t1033

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

Related rules

References

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_user_discovery_get_aduser.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "User Discovery And Export Via Get-ADUser Cmdlet - PowerShell" by Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/powershell/powershell_script/posh_ps_user_discovery_get_aduser.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: User Discovery And Export Via Get-ADUser Cmdlet - PowerShell",
entity page, dataset version ref-8459f370ae0b, updated 2022-11-17T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/c2993223-6da8-4b1a-88ee-668b8bf315e9 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule c2993223-6da8-4b1a-88ee-668b8bf315e9, 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.