User removed from a global security group.
Removing members from Protected Users or Domain Admins to degrade security posture. Also cleanup after attacker added themselves.
Alert: removal from Protected Users, Domain Admins, Enterprise Admins. Correlate add-then-remove pattern with 4728.
SubjectUserNameTargetUserNameLogonTypeIpAddressWorkstationName | Tactic | Technique |
|---|---|
| Impact | Account Access Removal (T1531) |
Starting points — adapt the log source, projected fields and thresholds for your environment.
SecurityEvent
| where EventID == 4729 // A member was removed from a security-enabled global group
| project TimeGenerated, Computer, SubjectUserName, TargetUserName, LogonType, IpAddress, WorkstationName
| sort by TimeGenerated desc
index=* sourcetype="WinEventLog:Security" EventCode=4729
| stats count earliest(_time) as first_seen latest(_time) as last_seen by ComputerName
| sort - count `# A member was removed from a security-enabled global group — add EventData fields: SubjectUserName, TargetUserName, LogonType, IpAddress`
A member was removed from a security-enabled global group. User removed from a global security group.
Event 4729 is written to the Security channel by Microsoft-Windows-Security-Auditing. Advanced Audit Policy — enable the 'Account Management' subcategory (Success and/or Failure).
Event 4729 is associated with: Account Access Removal (T1531).
Alert: removal from Protected Users, Domain Admins, Enterprise Admins. Correlate add-then-remove pattern with 4728.