Vulnerable certificate template loaded

Cortex XDR Analytics Alert Reference by Alert name

Product

Cortex XDR

Last date published

2025-11-09

Synopsis

Activation Period	14 Days
Training Period	30 Days
Test Period	N/A (single event)
Deduplication Period	1 Day
Required Data	Requires one of the following data sources: Windows Event Collector OR XDR Agent with eXtended Threat Hunting (XTH)
Detection Modules	Identity Analytics
Detector Tags	Active Directory Certificate Services Analytics
ATT&CK Tactic	Credential Access (TA0006)
ATT&CK Technique	Steal or Forge Authentication Certificates (T1649)
Severity	Informational

Description

A possible misconfigured certificate template was loaded by Certificate Services. This may indicate potential certificate template abuse.

Attacker's Goals

An attacker is attempting to exploit AD CS misconfigurations to obtain certificates that can be used for credential theft and privilege escalation.

Investigative actions

Review the AD CS configuration for vulnerable templates and EKU settings.
Review AD CS logs to identify any unauthorized certificate issuances, modifications, or template changes.
Look for signs of certificate template enumeration via LDAP.
Inspect certificates issued to privileged accounts.
Check for abnormal PKINIT authentication or elevated Kerberos tickets.

Variations

First detection of AD CS ESC vulnerability in certificate template

Synopsis

ATT&CK Tactic	Credential Access (TA0006)
ATT&CK Technique	Steal or Forge Authentication Certificates (T1649)
Severity	Medium

Description

A misconfigured certificate template vulnerable to an AD CS ESC attack was loaded by Certificate Services for the first time. This may indicate potential certificate template abuse.

Attacker's Goals

An attacker is attempting to exploit AD CS misconfigurations to obtain certificates that can be used for credential theft and privilege escalation.

Investigative actions

Review the AD CS configuration for vulnerable templates and EKU settings.
Review AD CS logs to identify any unauthorized certificate issuances, modifications, or template changes.
Look for signs of certificate template enumeration via LDAP.
Inspect certificates issued to privileged accounts.
Check for abnormal PKINIT authentication or elevated Kerberos tickets.

Certificate template vulnerable to AD CS ESC attack

Synopsis

ATT&CK Tactic	Credential Access (TA0006)
ATT&CK Technique	Steal or Forge Authentication Certificates (T1649)
Severity	Low

Description

A misconfigured certificate template vulnerable to an AD CS ESC attack was loaded by Certificate Services. This may indicate potential certificate template abuse.

Attacker's Goals

An attacker is attempting to exploit AD CS misconfigurations to obtain certificates that can be used for credential theft and privilege escalation.

Investigative actions

Review the AD CS configuration for vulnerable templates and EKU settings.
Review AD CS logs to identify any unauthorized certificate issuances, modifications, or template changes.
Look for signs of certificate template enumeration via LDAP.
Inspect certificates issued to privileged accounts.
Check for abnormal PKINIT authentication or elevated Kerberos tickets.