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Version: 2.2.1-preview

AD-USER-21 - Known service account details should be retrievable

Michael SouleMerill Fernando
Contributed by Michael Soule with Merill FernandoAll contributors →

Overview​

Service accounts often run business-critical workloads and commonly receive exceptions such as long-lived credentials, SPNs, or privileged access. Naming-pattern reviews help defenders quickly identify accounts that deserve deeper validation.

  • Exposure reduction: Find accounts likely used by services before attackers do.
  • Privilege review: Verify service accounts are not over-privileged.
  • Credential hygiene: Check for non-expiring passwords and stale patterns.
  • Inventory accuracy: Confirm naming standards are applied consistently.

Security Recommendation​

  • Maintain a defined naming standard for service accounts.
  • Review matched accounts for owner, purpose, and required privileges.
  • Prefer gMSAs where possible instead of traditional user-based service accounts.
  • Investigate service-like names that lack documentation.

How the Test Works​

This test reviews AD user objects and flags accounts whose SamAccountName or Name matches common service-account conventions such as svc-, service-, app-, sql-, or admin-svc.

  • Test-MtAdUserDelegationConfiguredCount
  • Test-MtAdUserDelegationDetails

Test Metadata​

FieldValue
Test IDAD-USER-21
SeverityInfo
SuiteActive Directory
CategoryAD.User
PowerShell testTest-MtAdUserKnownServiceAccountDetails
TagsAD, AD-USER-21, AD.User

Source​

  • Pester test: tests/ad/user/Test-MtAdUserKnownServiceAccountDetails.Tests.ps1
  • PowerShell source: powershell/public/ad/user/Test-MtAdUserKnownServiceAccountDetails.ps1