5137 Security log · DS Access medium severity medium volume

Windows Event ID 5137 — A directory service object was created

New AD object created. ObjectDN and ObjectClass indicate what was created.

Why event 5137 matters

New GPO objects (groupPolicyContainer) created by non-admins. New computer accounts by standard users = MachineAccountQuota abuse for Kerberos attacks.

How to detect it

Alert: GPO object created by non-admin accounts. Alert: computer accounts created by standard users.

Log source
Security
Advanced Audit Policy — enable the 'DS Access' subcategory (Success and/or Failure).
Fields to pivot on
SubjectUserNameTargetUserNameLogonTypeIpAddressWorkstationName

MITRE ATT&CK mapping

Tactic Technique
Persistence Create Account: Domain Account (T1136.002)

Detection queries

Starting points — adapt the log source, projected fields and thresholds for your environment.

Sentinel / Defender KQL
SecurityEvent
| where EventID == 5137   // A directory service object was created
| project TimeGenerated, Computer, SubjectUserName, TargetUserName, LogonType, IpAddress, WorkstationName
| sort by TimeGenerated desc
Splunk SPL
index=* sourcetype="WinEventLog:Security" EventCode=5137
| stats count earliest(_time) as first_seen latest(_time) as last_seen by ComputerName
| sort - count   `# A directory service object was created — add EventData fields: SubjectUserName, TargetUserName, LogonType, IpAddress`
Hunt event 5137 in Sentinel/Defender →
Build a KQL query for this event in the KQL Query Builder.
Search all event IDs →
Open the interactive Windows Event ID lookup.

Related DS Access events

4662 An operation was performed on an object 4928 An Active Directory replica source naming context was established 4929 An Active Directory replica source naming context was removed 4930 An Active Directory replica source naming context was modified 4932 Synchronization of a replica of an Active Directory naming context has begun 4933 Synchronization of a replica of an Active Directory naming context has ended 4934 Attributes of an Active Directory object were replicated 4935 Replication failure begins 4936 Replication failure ends 4937 A lingering object was removed from the replica 5136 A directory service object was modified 5138 A directory service object was undeleted

Frequently asked questions

What is Windows Event ID 5137?

A directory service object was created. New AD object created. ObjectDN and ObjectClass indicate what was created.

Which log records event 5137?

Event 5137 is written to the Security channel by Microsoft-Windows-Security-Auditing. Advanced Audit Policy — enable the 'DS Access' subcategory (Success and/or Failure).

What MITRE ATT&CK techniques map to event 5137?

Event 5137 is associated with: Create Account: Domain Account (T1136.002).

How do you detect activity around event 5137?

Alert: GPO object created by non-admin accounts. Alert: computer accounts created by standard users.