Unsecured Credentials: Group Policy Preferences
- ID
- T1552.006
- Tactics
- TA0006 Credential Access
- Sub-technique of
- T1552 Unsecured Credentials
- Platforms
- Windows
- Data sources
- File Creation, Process Creation, Network Share Access, Script Execution
- Source
- attack.mitre.org
- MITRE last modified
- 12 May 2026
Adversaries may attempt to find unsecured credentials in Group Policy Preferences (GPP). GPP are tools that allow administrators to create domain policies with embedded credentials. These policies allow administrators to set local accounts.[4]
These group policies are stored in SYSVOL on a domain controller. This means that any domain user can view the SYSVOL share and decrypt the password (using the AES key that has been made public).[5]
The following tools and scripts can be used to gather and decrypt the password file from Group Policy Preference XML files:
- Metasploit’s post exploitation module:
post/windows/gather/credentials/gpp - Get-GPPPassword[6]
- gpprefdecrypt.py
On the SYSVOL share, adversaries may use the following command to enumerate potential GPP XML files: dir /s * .xml
Detection
- DET0381 Detect Access and Decryption of Group Policy Preference (GPP) Credentials in SYSVOL
Data components: File Creation, Process Creation, Network Share Access, Script Execution
Mitigations (3)
- M1015 Active Directory Configuration
Remove vulnerable Group Policy Preferences.[1]
- M1047 Audit
Search SYSVOL for any existing GGPs that may contain credentials and remove them.[2]
- M1051 Update Software
Apply patch KB2962486 which prevents credentials from being stored in GPPs.[2][3]
Groups (2)
Software (3)
References
- Microsoft MS14-025
- ADSecurity Finding Passwords in SYSVOL
- MS14-025
- Microsoft GPP 2016
- Microsoft GPP Key
- Obscuresecurity Get-GPPPassword