T1615 — Group Policy Discovery

# T1615 - Group Policy Discovery

## SOC Recommendation
Investigate Group Policy Discovery activity in the context of Discovery: confirm scope, affected host/identity, and whether it matches expected administrative behaviour before deciding this is benign.

## D3FEND Mappings
| D3FEND Technique | Relationship | Practical SOC Action |
|---|---|---|
| Restore Configuration | Restore | Use Restore Configuration to recover affected systems or data after containment. |
| Configuration Inventory | Model | Use Configuration Inventory to establish a baseline that makes this technique's deviations easier to spot. |

## Investigation Steps
1. Review Defender for Endpoint / Defender XDR alerts and timeline for the affected host or identity.
2. Check Sentinel analytics rules and incidents correlated with this technique.
3. Review Entra ID sign-in and audit logs if the technique involves an identity or cloud resource.

## Evidence to Collect
- Host or resource affected
- Account or identity involved
- Timestamp of the activity
- Related process, file, or network artifact
- Any preceding or follow-on alerts

## Response Actions
| Action | Risk | Automation Safe | Approval Required |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contain the affected host or account | Medium | No | Yes |
| Collect and preserve evidence | Low | Yes | No |

## KQL
```kql
let regexEmpire = tostring(toscalar(externaldata(cmdlets:string)[@"https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Azure/Azure-Sentinel/master/Sample%20Data/Feeds/EmpireCommandString.txt"] with (format="txt")));
(union isfuzzy=true
 (SecurityEvent
| where EventID == 4688
//consider filtering on filename if perf issues occur
//where FileName in~ ("powershell.exe","powershell_ise.exe","pwsh.exe")
| where not(ParentProcessName has_any ('gc_worker.exe', 'gc_service.exe'))
| where CommandLine has "-encodedCommand"
| parse kind=regex flags=i CommandLine with * "-EncodedCommand " encodedCommand
| extend encodedCommand = iff(encodedCommand has " ", tostring(split(encodedCommand, " ")[0]), encodedCommand)
// Note: currently the base64_decode_tostring function is limited to supporting UTF8
| extend decodedCommand = translate('\0','', base64_decode_tostring(substring(encodedCommand, 0, strlen(encodedCommand) -  (strlen(encodedCommand) %8)))), encodedCommand, CommandLine , strlen(encodedCommand)
| extend EfectiveCommand = iff(isnotempty(encodedCommand), decodedCommand, CommandLine)
| where EfectiveCommand matches regex regexEmpire
| project timestamp = TimeGenerated, Computer, SubjectUserName, SubjectDomainName, FileName = Process, EfectiveCommand, decodedCommand, encodedCommand, CommandLine, ParentProcessName
| extend HostName = split(Computer, '.', 0)[0], DnsDomain = strcat_array(array_slice(split(Computer, '.'), 1, -1), '.')
),
(WindowsEvent
| where EventID == 4688
| where EventData has_any ("-encodedCommand", "powershell.exe","powershell_ise.exe","pwsh.exe")
| where not(EventData has_any ('gc_worker.exe', 'gc_service.exe'))
//consider filtering on filename if perf issues occur
//extend NewProcessName = tostring(EventData.NewProcessName)
//extend Process=tostring(split(NewProcessName, '\\')[-1])
//FileName = Process
//where FileName in~ ("powershell.exe","powershell_ise.exe","pwsh.exe")
| extend ParentProcessName = tostring(EventData.ParentProcessName)
| where not(ParentProcessName has_any ('gc_worker.exe', 'gc_service.exe'))
| extend CommandLine = tostring(EventData.CommandLine)
| where CommandLine has "-encodedCommand"
| parse kind=regex flags=i CommandLine with * "-EncodedCommand " encodedCommand
| extend encodedCommand = iff(encodedCommand has " ", tostring(split(encodedCommand, " ")[0]), encodedCommand)
// Note: currently the base64_decode_tostring function is limited to supporting UTF8
| extend decodedCommand = translate('\0','', base64_decode_tostring(substring(encodedCommand, 0, strlen(encodedCommand) -  (strlen(encodedCommand) %8)))), encodedCommand, CommandLine , strlen(encodedCommand)
| extend EfectiveCommand = iff(isnotempty(encodedCommand), decodedCommand, CommandLine)
| where EfectiveCommand matches regex regexEmpire
| extend SubjectUserName = tostring(EventData.SubjectUserName)
| extend SubjectDomainName = tostring(EventData.SubjectDomainName)
| extend NewProcessName = tostring(EventData.NewProcessName)
| extend Process=tostring(split(NewProcessName, '\\')[-1])
| project timestamp = TimeGenerated, Computer, SubjectUserName, SubjectDomainName, FileName = Process, EfectiveCommand, decodedCommand, encodedCommand, CommandLine, ParentProcessName
| extend HostName = split(Computer, '.', 0)[0], DnsDomain = strcat_array(array_slice(split(Computer, '.'), 1, -1), '.')
))
```

## Escalation Criteria
- Group Policy Discovery activity observed on a privileged account or critical system.
- Activity follows or precedes other suspicious behaviour in the same investigation.
- Automated triage cannot confidently rule out malicious intent.

## False Positive Considerations
- Legitimate administrative or maintenance activity matching this pattern.
- Approved security testing or red team exercise.
- Known benign software producing similar telemetry.

Generated by SOC Response Atlas by Basyrix.

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• /api/techniques/T1615.json
• /api/recommendations/T1615.json
• /api/d3fend/T1615.json
• /api/mappings/T1615.json
• /api/confluence/T1615.md

Example curl:

curl https://atlas.basyrix.com/api/recommendations/T1615.json

Response:

{
  "technique_id": "T1615",
  "name": "Group Policy Discovery",
  "priority": "medium",
  "status": "draft",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "last_reviewed": "2026-07-23",
  "generated_by": "SOC Response Atlas by Basyrix",
  "tactics": [
    "Discovery"
  ],
  "platforms": [
    "Windows"
  ],
  "summary": "Adversaries may gather information on Group Policy settings to identify paths for privilege escalation, security measures applied within a domain, and to discover patterns in domain objects that can be manipulated or used to blend in the environment. Group Policy allows for centralized management of user and computer settings in Active Directory (AD)...",
  "soc_recommendation": "Investigate Group Policy Discovery activity in the context of Discovery: confirm scope, affected host/identity, and whether it matches expected administrative behaviour before deciding this is benign.",
  "d3fend_mappings": [
    {
      "id": "D3-RC",
      "name": "Restore Configuration",
      "relationship": "restore",
      "practical_action": "Use Restore Configuration to recover affected systems or data after containment.",
      "tooling": [
        "Defender for Endpoint"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "D3-CI",
      "name": "Configuration Inventory",
      "relationship": "model",
      "practical_action": "Use Configuration Inventory to establish a baseline that makes this technique's deviations easier to spot.",
      "tooling": [
        "Defender for Endpoint"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "investigation_steps": {
    "microsoft": [
      "Review Defender for Endpoint / Defender XDR alerts and timeline for the affected host or identity.",
      "Check Sentinel analytics rules and incidents correlated with this technique.",
      "Review Entra ID sign-in and audit logs if the technique involves an identity or cloud resource."
    ],
    "generic": [
      "Confirm whether the observed group policy discovery activity matches expected administrative or application behaviour.",
      "Identify the host, account, or resource where the activity occurred and its business criticality.",
      "Check for related alerts before and after this activity to reconstruct the broader intrusion timeline.",
      "Real detection reference: \"Powershell Empire Cmdlets Executed in Command Line\" -- This query identifies use of PowerShell Empire's cmdlets within the command line data of the PowerShell process, indicating potential use of the post-exploitation tool.'"
    ]
  },
  "evidence_to_collect": [
    "Host or resource affected",
    "Account or identity involved",
    "Timestamp of the activity",
    "Related process, file, or network artifact",
    "Any preceding or follow-on alerts"
  ],
  "response_actions": [
    {
      "name": "Contain the affected host or account",
      "category": "Containment",
      "risk": "Medium",
      "automation_safe": false,
      "approval_required": true,
      "tool": "Defender for Endpoint / Entra ID",
      "notes": "Requires approval -- confirm malicious intent before isolating a host or disabling an account."
    },
    {
      "name": "Collect and preserve evidence",
      "category": "Investigation",
      "risk": "Low",
      "automation_safe": true,
      "approval_required": false,
      "tool": "Defender for Endpoint",
      "notes": "Safe -- read-only evidence collection."
    }
  ],
  "queries": {
    "kql": [
      {
        "name": "ef88eb96-861c-43a0-ab16-f3835a97c928 — Powershell Empire Cmdlets Executed in Command Line",
        "description": "This query identifies use of PowerShell Empire's cmdlets within the command line data of the PowerShell process, indicating potential use of the post-exploitation tool.' (Source: Microsoft's official Azure-Sentinel Detections (MIT licensed).)",
        "query": "let regexEmpire = tostring(toscalar(externaldata(cmdlets:string)[@\"https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Azure/Azure-Sentinel/master/Sample%20Data/Feeds/EmpireCommandString.txt\"] with (format=\"txt\")));\n(union isfuzzy=true\n (SecurityEvent\n| where EventID == 4688\n//consider filtering on filename if perf issues occur\n//where FileName in~ (\"powershell.exe\",\"powershell_ise.exe\",\"pwsh.exe\")\n| where not(ParentProcessName has_any ('gc_worker.exe', 'gc_service.exe'))\n| where CommandLine has \"-encodedCommand\"\n| parse kind=regex flags=i CommandLine with * \"-EncodedCommand \" encodedCommand\n| extend encodedCommand = iff(encodedCommand has \" \", tostring(split(encodedCommand, \" \")[0]), encodedCommand)\n// Note: currently the base64_decode_tostring function is limited to supporting UTF8\n| extend decodedCommand = translate('\\0','', base64_decode_tostring(substring(encodedCommand, 0, strlen(encodedCommand) -  (strlen(encodedCommand) %8)))), encodedCommand, CommandLine , strlen(encodedCommand)\n| extend EfectiveCommand = iff(isnotempty(encodedCommand), decodedCommand, CommandLine)\n| where EfectiveCommand matches regex regexEmpire\n| project timestamp = TimeGenerated, Computer, SubjectUserName, SubjectDomainName, FileName = Process, EfectiveCommand, decodedCommand, encodedCommand, CommandLine, ParentProcessName\n| extend HostName = split(Computer, '.', 0)[0], DnsDomain = strcat_array(array_slice(split(Computer, '.'), 1, -1), '.')\n),\n(WindowsEvent\n| where EventID == 4688\n| where EventData has_any (\"-encodedCommand\", \"powershell.exe\",\"powershell_ise.exe\",\"pwsh.exe\")\n| where not(EventData has_any ('gc_worker.exe', 'gc_service.exe'))\n//consider filtering on filename if perf issues occur\n//extend NewProcessName = tostring(EventData.NewProcessName)\n//extend Process=tostring(split(NewProcessName, '\\\\')[-1])\n//FileName = Process\n//where FileName in~ (\"powershell.exe\",\"powershell_ise.exe\",\"pwsh.exe\")\n| extend ParentProcessName = tostring(EventData.ParentProcessName)\n| where not(ParentProcessName has_any ('gc_worker.exe', 'gc_service.exe'))\n| extend CommandLine = tostring(EventData.CommandLine)\n| where CommandLine has \"-encodedCommand\"\n| parse kind=regex flags=i CommandLine with * \"-EncodedCommand \" encodedCommand\n| extend encodedCommand = iff(encodedCommand has \" \", tostring(split(encodedCommand, \" \")[0]), encodedCommand)\n// Note: currently the base64_decode_tostring function is limited to supporting UTF8\n| extend decodedCommand = translate('\\0','', base64_decode_tostring(substring(encodedCommand, 0, strlen(encodedCommand) -  (strlen(encodedCommand) %8)))), encodedCommand, CommandLine , strlen(encodedCommand)\n| extend EfectiveCommand = iff(isnotempty(encodedCommand), decodedCommand, CommandLine)\n| where EfectiveCommand matches regex regexEmpire\n| extend SubjectUserName = tostring(EventData.SubjectUserName)\n| extend SubjectDomainName = tostring(EventData.SubjectDomainName)\n| extend NewProcessName = tostring(EventData.NewProcessName)\n| extend Process=tostring(split(NewProcessName, '\\\\')[-1])\n| project timestamp = TimeGenerated, Computer, SubjectUserName, SubjectDomainName, FileName = Process, EfectiveCommand, decodedCommand, encodedCommand, CommandLine, ParentProcessName\n| extend HostName = split(Computer, '.', 0)[0], DnsDomain = strcat_array(array_slice(split(Computer, '.'), 1, -1), '.')\n))"
      }
    ],
    "spl": [],
    "esql": [
      {
        "name": "94a401ba-4fa2-455c-b7ae-b6e037afc0b7 — Group Policy Discovery via Microsoft GPResult Utility",
        "description": "(EQL) Detects the usage of gpresult.exe to query group policy objects. Attackers may query group policy objects during the reconnaissance phase after compromising a system to gain a better understanding of the active directory environment and possible methods to escalate privileges or move laterally. (Source: Elastic's official detection-rules repository (Elastic License v2).)",
        "query": "process where host.os.type == \"windows\" and event.type == \"start\" and\n(process.name: \"gpresult.exe\" or ?process.pe.original_file_name == \"gprslt.exe\") and process.args: (\"/z\", \"/v\", \"/r\", \"/x\")"
      },
      {
        "name": "770e0c4d-b998-41e5-a62e-c7901fd7f470 — Enumeration Command Spawned via WMIPrvSE",
        "description": "(EQL) Identifies native Windows host and network enumeration commands spawned by the Windows Management Instrumentation Provider Service (WMIPrvSE). (Source: Elastic's official detection-rules repository (Elastic License v2).)",
        "query": "process where host.os.type == \"windows\" and event.type == \"start\" and process.command_line != null and\n  process.name:\n  (\n    \"arp.exe\", \"dsquery.exe\", \"dsget.exe\", \"gpresult.exe\", \"hostname.exe\", \"ipconfig.exe\", \"nbtstat.exe\",\n    \"net.exe\", \"net1.exe\", \"netsh.exe\", \"netstat.exe\", \"nltest.exe\", \"ping.exe\", \"qprocess.exe\", \"quser.exe\",\n    \"qwinsta.exe\", \"reg.exe\", \"sc.exe\", \"systeminfo.exe\", \"tasklist.exe\", \"tracert.exe\", \"whoami.exe\"\n  ) and\n  process.parent.name:\"wmiprvse.exe\" and\n  not (\n    process.name : \"sc.exe\" and process.args : \"RemoteRegistry\" and process.args : \"start=\" and\n    process.args : (\"demand\", \"disabled\")\n  ) and\n  not process.args : \"tenable_mw_scan\""
      }
    ]
  },
  "automation": {
    "safe": [
      "Add recommendation as Sentinel incident comment.",
      "Run enrichment queries.",
      "Create ServiceNow SecOps task."
    ],
    "approval_required": [
      "Contain or disable the affected host/account.",
      "Any change to production configuration."
    ]
  },
  "escalation_criteria": [
    "Group Policy Discovery activity observed on a privileged account or critical system.",
    "Activity follows or precedes other suspicious behaviour in the same investigation.",
    "Automated triage cannot confidently rule out malicious intent."
  ],
  "false_positive_considerations": [
    "Legitimate administrative or maintenance activity matching this pattern.",
    "Approved security testing or red team exercise.",
    "Known benign software producing similar telemetry."
  ],
  "confluence": {
    "title": "T1615 - Group Policy Discovery Response Guidance",
    "labels": [
      "mitre",
      "attack",
      "d3fend",
      "secops",
      "basyrix"
    ],
    "sections": [
      "summary",
      "d3fend_mappings",
      "investigation_steps",
      "response_actions",
      "queries",
      "automation",
      "escalation_criteria",
      "false_positive_considerations"
    ]
  }
}