ADMIN_TO

Summary

FSProtect ACL Alias

ADMIN_TO

Affected Object Types

Computers

Exploitation Certainty

Certain

Description

ADMIN_TO permission in an Active Directory environment grants an account local administrative privileges on a specific system. A user with this permission has near‑unrestricted access to the operating system and can perform many administrative tasks. For example, they can install software, change system settings, start or stop services, or modify system files. Administrators use this permission to expedite troubleshooting and to manage critical tasks, system performance, and security.

If misconfigured, the ADMIN_TO permission poses significant security risks. An attacker who obtains this permission could gain full control of the system, run arbitrary code, bypass security controls, and manipulate the system for malicious purposes. Such an attacker could misuse system resources, encrypt data for ransom, or deploy malware to maintain persistent access.

Identification

PowerShell

Active Directory Module

Using the ActiveDirectory PowerShell module, you can enumerate ADMIN_TO entries.

1. Find-ADMIN_TO Function

function Find-ADMIN_TO {
    [CmdletBinding()]
    param(  [string[]]$Target = $null,    [string]$SearchBase = $null, [string]$OutputPath = "ADMIN_TO.csv", [int]$TimeoutSec = 6 )
    Import-Module ActiveDirectory -ErrorAction Stop
    $computers = @()
    if ($Target) {
        Write-Host "Using provided target(s): $($Target -join ', ')"
        foreach ($t in $Target) {
            # If it's an IP or FQDN, use as-is; otherwise try to resolve via AD
            if ($t -match '^\d{1,3}(\.\d{1,3}){3}$' -or $t -like "*.*") {
                $computers += $t
            } else {
                try {
                    $adComp = Get-ADComputer -Identity $t -Properties dNSHostName -ErrorAction Stop
                    if ($adComp.dNSHostName) { $computers += $adComp.dNSHostName } else { $computers += $adComp.Name }
                } catch {
                    Write-Warning "Couldn't resolve '$t' from AD: $($_.Exception.Message). Using as provided."
                    $computers += $t
                }
            }
        }
        $computers = $computers | Sort-Object -Unique
    } else {
        Write-Host "Gathering computer objects from Active Directory..."
        try {
            $computers = if ($SearchBase) {
                Write-Host "Filtering computers under '$SearchBase'"
                Get-ADComputer -Filter * -SearchBase $SearchBase -ErrorAction Stop | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Name
            } else {
                Get-ADComputer -Filter * -ErrorAction Stop | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Name
            }
        } catch {
            Write-Error "Failed to retrieve computer objects: $($_.Exception.Message)"
            return
        }
    }
    if (-not $computers) {
        Write-Warning "No computers found; exiting."
        return
    }
    $results = New-Object System.Collections.Generic.List[object]
    Write-Host "Enumerating local Administrators on $($computers.Count) computers..."
    $opt = New-CimSessionOption -Protocol Dcom
    foreach ($c in $computers) {
        try {
            $sess = New-CimSession -ComputerName $c -SessionOption $opt -OperationTimeoutSec $TimeoutSec -ErrorAction Stop
            try {
                $grp = Get-CimInstance -CimSession $sess -ClassName Win32_Group -Filter "LocalAccount=TRUE AND Name='Administrators'" -ErrorAction Stop
                if (-not $grp) {
                    Write-Warning "Administrators group not found on '$c'."
                    continue
                }
                $members = Get-CimAssociatedInstance -CimSession $sess -InputObject $grp -Association Win32_GroupUser -ErrorAction Stop
                foreach ($m in $members) {
                    $memberType = if ($m.CimClass.CimClassName -eq 'Win32_Group') { 'Group' } else { 'User' }
                    $memberName = if ($m.Domain) { "$($m.Domain)\$($m.Name)" } else { $m.Name }
                    $results.Add([PSCustomObject]@{
                        ComputerName = $c
                        MemberName   = $memberName
                        MemberType   = $memberType
                    })
                }
            }
            finally { if ($sess) { $sess | Remove-CimSession -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue } }
        } catch { Write-Warning "Unable to enumerate Administrators on '$c': $($_.Exception.Message)"}
    }
    if ($results.Count -gt 0) {
        try {$results | Select-Object ComputerName, MemberName, MemberType |Sort-Object ComputerName, MemberType, MemberName | Export-Csv -Path $OutputPath -NoTypeInformation -Encoding UTF8 -ErrorAction Stop
            Write-Host "Results exported to '$OutputPath'"
        } catch { Write-Error "Failed to export to CSV: $($_.Exception.Message)"  }
    } else { Write-Output "No local administrator members found across scanned computers." }}

2. Scan all Computers in the domain

Find-ADMIN_TO

3. Scan a specified target

Find-ADMIN_TO -Target VM01

4. Using SearchBase to limit the Scope

Find-ADMIN_TO -SearchBase "CN=Computers,DC=forestall,DC=labs"

.NET Directory Services

By leveraging PowerShell’s built-in .NET DirectoryServices namespace, you can enumerate ADMIN_TO entries without relying on any external modules or dependencies.

1. Find-ADMIN_TOSimple function

function Find-ADMIN_TOSimple {
    [CmdletBinding()]
    param([string]$Target,[string]$SearchBase = $null,[string]$OutputPath = "ADMIN_TO.csv",[int]$TimeoutSec = 6)
    $computers = @()
    try {
        if ($Target) {
            try {
                $de = New-Object System.DirectoryServices.DirectoryEntry("LDAP://$Target")
                $name = $de.Properties["dNSHostName"].Value
                if (-not $name) { $name = $de.Properties["name"].Value }
                if ($name) { $computers = @($name) } else { Write-Error "Could not resolve a hostname for '$Target'."; return }
            } catch { Write-Error "Failed to bind to '$Target': $($_.Exception.Message)"; return }
        }
        else {
            $root   = New-Object System.DirectoryServices.DirectoryEntry("LDAP://RootDSE")
            $baseDN = $root.Properties["defaultNamingContext"].Value
            if ($SearchBase) { $base = "LDAP://$SearchBase" } else { $base = "LDAP://$baseDN" }
            $searchRoot = New-Object System.DirectoryServices.DirectoryEntry($base)
            $ds = New-Object System.DirectoryServices.DirectorySearcher($searchRoot)
            $ds.Filter = "(objectCategory=computer)"
            $ds.PageSize = 1000
            [void]$ds.PropertiesToLoad.Add("dNSHostName")
            [void]$ds.PropertiesToLoad.Add("name")
            $hits = $ds.FindAll()
            if ($hits.Count -eq 0) { Write-Warning "No computers found; exiting."; return }
            $computers = foreach ($h in $hits) {
                $dns = $h.Properties["dnshostname"]
                if ($dns -and $dns[0]) { $dns[0] } else { $h.Properties["name"][0] }
            }
        }
    } catch { Write-Error "LDAP enumeration failed: $($_.Exception.Message)"; return }
    $results = New-Object System.Collections.Generic.List[object]
    Write-Host "Enumerating local Administrators on $($computers.Count) computer(s)..."
    foreach ($c in $computers) {
        try {
            $opt  = New-CimSessionOption -Protocol Dcom
            $sess = New-CimSession -ComputerName $c -SessionOption $opt -OperationTimeoutSec $TimeoutSec -ErrorAction Stop
            try {
                $grp = Get-CimInstance -CimSession $sess -ClassName Win32_Group -Filter "LocalAccount=TRUE AND Name='Administrators'" -ErrorAction Stop
                if (-not $grp) { Write-Warning "Administrators group not found on '$c'."; continue }
                $members = Get-CimAssociatedInstance -CimSession $sess -InputObject $grp -Association Win32_GroupUser -ErrorAction Stop
                foreach ($m in $members) {
                    $memberType = if ($m.CimClass.CimClassName -eq 'Win32_Group') { 'Group' } else { 'User' }
                    $memberName = if ($m.Domain) { "$($m.Domain)\$($m.Name)" } else { $m.Name }
                    $results.Add([PSCustomObject]@{
                        ComputerName = $c
                        MemberName   = $memberName
                        MemberType   = $memberType
                    })
                }
            }
            finally {
                if ($sess) { $sess | Remove-CimSession -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue }
            }
        } catch { Write-Warning "Unable to enumerate Administrators on '$c': $($_.Exception.Message)"}
    }
    if ($results.Count -gt 0) {
        try {
            $results |
                Select-Object ComputerName, MemberName, MemberType |
                Sort-Object ComputerName, MemberType, MemberName |
                Export-Csv -Path $OutputPath -NoTypeInformation -Encoding UTF8 -ErrorAction Stop
            Write-Host "Results exported to '$OutputPath'"
        } catch { Write-Error "Failed to export to CSV: $($_.Exception.Message)" }
    } else { Write-Output "No local administrator members found across scanned computers."}
}

2. Scan all computers in the domain

Find-ADMIN_TOSimple

3. Scan a specific computer object

Find-ADMIN_TO -Target "CN=VM01,OU=Workstations,DC=forestall,Dc=labs"

Computer Management

To identify ADMIN_TO using Computer Management, follow the steps below:

1. Open Computer Management.

2. Select Action from the menu, then Connect to Another Computer if another computer is required.

3. Select the desired machine to manage.

4. In the Computer Management window, navigate to the Local Users and Groups section.

5. In Local Users and Groups, double-click and open Administrators.

6. In the Members list, locate users and groups.

7. Click OK to close the dialogs.

Exploitation

This permission is exploitable on Windows; on Linux, attackers can use tools such as Impacket for exploitation.

Windows

Using Current Security Context

Enter-PSSession -ComputerName VM01

Using Custom Credentials

$secure = ConvertTo-SecureString "<password>" -AsPlainText -Force
$cred = New-Object System.Management.Automation.PSCredential ("<domain>\<user>", $secure)
Enter-PSSession -ComputerName FSCA01 -Credential $cred

Example:

$secure = ConvertTo-SecureString "Temp123!" -AsPlainText -Force
$cred = New-Object System.Management.Automation.PSCredential ("Forestall.labs\adam", $secure)
Enter-PSSession -ComputerName VM01 -Credential $cred

Using any remote execution protocol:

  • Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) -> SharpWMI.exe

  • Windows Remote Management (WinRM) -> CSharpWinRM.exe

  • Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) -> Invoke-DCOM.ps1

Linux

impacket-psexec '<domain>/<user login name>:<password>@<IP Address or Host>'

Example:

impacket-psexec 'forestall.labs/adam:Temp123!'@VM01.forestall.labs

Using wmiexec

impacket-wmiexec '<domain>/<user login name>:<password>@<IP Address or Host>'

Example:

impacket-wmiexec 'forestall.labs/adam:Temp123!'@VM01.forestall.labs

Using smbexec

impacket-smbexec '<domain>/<user login name>:<password>@<IP Address  or Host>'

Example:

impacket-smbexec 'forestall.labs/adam:Temp123!'@VM01.forestall.labs

Mitigation

You can mitigate ADMIN_TO with the following steps:

1. Open Computer Management.

2. Select Action from the menu, then Connect to Another Computer (skip if managing the current machine).

3. Select the desired machine to manage.

4. In the Computer Management window, navigate to the Local Users and Groups section.

5. In Local Users and Groups, double-click and open Administrators.

6. In the Members list, select the unwanted user or group and click Remove.

7. Click OK to close the dialogs.

Detection

Monitor Windows Security event logs for the following Event IDs, which indicate modifications to security-enabled local, global, or universal groups. Pay close attention to additions to the local "Administrators" group on workstations and servers.

Event ID
Description
Fields/Attributes
References

4732

A member was added to a security-enabled local group.

TargetUserName, TargetGroupName, MemberName, ComputerName

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-10/security/threat-protection/auditing/event-4732

4728

A member was added to a security-enabled global group

TargetUserName, TargetGroupName, MemberName, ComputerName

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-10/security/threat-protection/auditing/audit-security-group-management

4756

A member was added to a security-enabled universal group

TargetUserName, TargetGroupName, MemberName, ComputerName

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-10/security/threat-protection/auditing/audit-security-group-management

4624

Successful logon to the host. Look for admin usage patterns.

LogonType 3 (network), 10 (RDP), 2 (interactive); pivot on Logon ID, IpAddress, AuthenticationPackage

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-10/security/threat-protection/auditing/event-4624

References

PreviousAddMemberNextAllExtendedRights

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