Detection rules › Splunk
SchCache Change By App Connect And Create ADSI Object
The following analytic detects an application attempting to connect and create an ADSI object to perform an LDAP query. It leverages Sysmon EventCode 11 to identify changes in the Active Directory Schema cache files located in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\SchCache or %systemroot%\SchCache. This activity is significant as it can indicate the presence of suspicious applications, such as ransomware, using ADSI object APIs for LDAP queries. If confirmed malicious, this behavior could allow attackers to gather sensitive directory information, potentially leading to further exploitation or lateral movement within the network.
MITRE ATT&CK coverage
| Tactic | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Discovery | T1087.002 Account Discovery: Domain Account |
Event coverage
| Provider | Event ID | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Sysmon | 11 | FileCreate |
Stages and Predicates
Stage 1: search
search NOT Image="*\\Windows\\system32\\mmc.exe" EventCode=11 TargetFilename="*.sch*" TargetFilename="*\\Windows\\SchCache\\*"
Stage 2: stats
stats BY action, dest, file_name, file_path, process_guid, process_id, user_id, vendor_product, process_name
Stage 3: search
search
Stage 4: search
search
Stage 5: search
search `macro`
Exclusions
Top-level NOT(...) conjuncts — predicates this rule actively suppresses.
| Stage | Field | Kind | Excluded values |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Image | eq | "*\\Windows\\system32\\mmc.exe" |
Indicators
Each row is a field, operator, and value that the rule matches. The corpus column counts how many other rules in the catalog look for the same combination: high numbers point to widely-used, community-vetted indicators. Blank or 1 shows that the indicator is specific to this rule.
| Field | Kind | Values |
|---|---|---|
EventCode | eq |
|
TargetFilename | eq |
|