Esentutl Credential Gathering via NTDS.dit Access
This rule detects the execution of 'esentutl' with the '/p' parameter. This command-line utility is used for database utilities, and its use with '/p' (repair mode) can be leveraged by adversaries to access or repair Extensible Storage Engine (ESE) databases, including the NTDS.dit file which contains Active Directory credential information. This technique has been observed in use by threat actors like Conti ransomware and Trickbot to gather credentials or other sensitive information from compromised systems.
Sigma
