Security Engineering & Hardening

Active Directory Security Review

  • May 9, 2025
  • 0

Sherlocked Security – Active Directory Security Review

Identify Misconfigurations, Privilege Escalation Paths, and Structural Weaknesses in Your AD Environment

1. Statement of Work (SOW)

Service Name: Active Directory Security Review
Client Type: Enterprises, Financial Institutions, Government, Healthcare, Energy Sector
Service Model: Project-Based Assessment + Advisory Support
Compliance Alignment: NIST 800-53, ISO/IEC 27001, CIS Controls v8, CMMC, MITRE ATT&CK

Service Scope Includes:

  • Comprehensive review of AD objects, group policies, ACLs, and domain trusts
  • Identification of privilege escalation paths and attack vectors
  • Evaluation of administrative tiering, delegation, and trust boundaries
  • Kerberos-related risks, stale accounts, and misconfigurations
  • Detection of persistence mechanisms (e.g., Golden Ticket, Skeleton Key)
  • Recommendations for segmentation, tiering, hardening, and logging

2. Our Approach

[Discovery & Mapping] → [Privilege Path Analysis] → [GPO & ACL Review] → [Attack Simulation] → [Risk Prioritization] → [Remediation Planning]

3. Methodology

  • Domain Enumeration & Mapping

    • Inventory of domains, forests, OUs, trusts, service accounts, and privileged groups

  • Group Policy & ACL Review

    • Analyze GPOs, user rights assignments, and permission inheritance for overreach

  • Privilege Escalation Pathfinding

    • Graph-based analysis (e.g., BloodHound) to map and rank attack paths

  • User & Account Review

    • Identify dormant, misused, over-privileged, or misconfigured accounts

  • Kerberos & Authentication Risks

    • Analyze SPNs, unconstrained delegation, and ticket lifetimes

  • Attack Simulation (Non-Destructive)

    • Simulate common tactics such as DCSync, ACL abuse, or lateral movement

  • Logging & Monitoring Validation

    • Assess AD-related logging coverage (event logs, SIEM integration)

4. Deliverables to the Client

  1. Active Directory Risk Assessment Report
  2. Attack Path Graphs: Visual representation of privilege escalation chains
  3. Group Policy & ACL Review Summary
  4. Account Hygiene & Trust Boundary Evaluation
  5. Recommendations for Remediation & Hardening
  6. Executive Summary: Risk posture overview and strategic remediation roadmap

5. What We Need from You (Client Requirements)

  • Read-Only Access to the Active Directory domain for analysis
  • AD Topology & Documentation, including forest/domain structure and GPO mapping
  • Security Event Logs or access to event forwarding/SIEM data
  • AD Admin Stakeholders for interviews and clarification
  • Access to AD Audit or SIEM Logs (if available)

6. Tools & Technology Stack

  • Privilege Escalation Mapping:

    • BloodHound, SharpHound, ADExplorer, PingCastle

  • GPO & ACL Analysis:

    • GPOtool, Microsoft Security Compliance Toolkit, ACLight, PowerView

  • Logging & Detection:

    • Event Viewer, Sysmon, Windows Event Forwarding, ELK Stack, Splunk

  • Attack Simulation & Testing:

    • PurpleSharp, Mimikatz (in lab/simulated mode), PowerSploit

7. Engagement Lifecycle

  1. Kickoff & Scope Definition
  2. Data Collection & Mapping
  3. GPO, ACL & Trust Review
  4. Privilege Escalation & Path Analysis
  5. Account & Delegation Review
  6. Simulated Attack Techniques
  7. Risk Prioritization & Reporting
  8. Remediation Guidance & Briefing

8. Why Sherlocked Security?

Feature Sherlocked Advantage
Deep AD Visibility Full domain/forest enumeration and mapping of privilege relationships
BloodHound Expertise Skilled use of graph analytics to find real-world attack paths
GPO & Delegation Accuracy Detailed analysis of group policy risks and admin delegation flaws
Threat-Informed Review MITRE ATT&CK-aligned simulations to uncover realistic risks
Tactical & Strategic Remediation Actionable fixes for quick wins and long-term AD hardening

9. Real-World Case Studies

Privilege Escalation Risk in a Global Retailer

Client: International retail brand with hybrid Azure AD
Issue: Misconfigured ACLs and overly broad delegated rights
Action: BloodHound mapping identified paths from Tier-3 workstations to Domain Admins
Result: Reduced attack surface by 80% through GPO and delegation fixes

Healthcare AD Audit with HIPAA Context

Client: Large healthcare provider
Issue: Dormant service accounts with elevated privileges
Action: Identified and removed 240+ stale accounts and enforced password rotation
Result: Aligned AD configuration with HIPAA technical safeguards

10. SOP – Standard Operating Procedure

  1. Collect Domain Topology and GPO Structures
  2. Run SharpHound and AD Recon Tools
  3. Map Attack Paths and Flag High-Risk Nodes
  4. Review GPOs, Delegation Chains, and ACLs
  5. Identify Weak Password Policies, SPNs, and Open Trusts
  6. Validate Logging and Auditing Coverage
  7. Generate and Review Reports with Client
  8. Deliver Fix Recommendations and Prioritized Action Plan

11. Readiness Checklist

1. Pre-Engagement

  • [ ] AD architecture documentation
  • [ ] GPO list and delegation model
  • [ ] Service and admin account inventory
  • [ ] Event logs or SIEM access for audit trails
  • [ ] List of critical business units and applications integrated with AD

2. During Engagement

  • [ ] Execute data collection via BloodHound or equivalent
  • [ ] Map escalation paths and shadow admin accounts
  • [ ] Identify exposed SPNs, SID history abuse, or DCsync access
  • [ ] Validate trust boundaries and domain isolation

3. Post-Engagement

  • [ ] Deliver full assessment and attack path graphs
  • [ ] Recommend Tiered Admin model and group cleanup
  • [ ] Propose logging & monitoring enhancements
  • [ ] Provide GPO hardening and delegation fix templates
  • [ ] Schedule remediation support or revalidation follow-up
Custom Rule & Playbook Management
Threat Hunting Programs