10 recent articles about Active Directory security vulnerability

Key Points

Research suggests Active Directory (AD) security vulnerabilities are a major concern, with common issues like weak passwords and misconfigurations often exploited.
It seems likely that top resources include articles, papers, and talks focusing on attack methods like Kerberoasting and mitigation strategies.
The evidence leans toward recent publications being more relevant, with 2024-2025 materials offering current insights.

Overview

Active Directory is crucial for managing network identities, but its vulnerabilities can lead to significant security breaches. This response highlights the top 10 popular articles, research papers, and conference talks from 2020 to 2025, focusing on AD security issues. These resources provide practical advice for IT professionals to enhance security, unexpectedly including detailed conference talks that offer technical deep dives into specific exploits.

Detailed Findings

Below, we explore each resource, summarizing their key insights and relevance. These cover a range of attack vectors, best practices, and experimental analyses, ensuring a comprehensive understanding for both beginners and experts.

Top 10 Active Directory Attack Methods (lepide.com, 2025): This article lists 10 common AD attack methods, such as Kerberoasting and Password Spraying, offering mitigation strategies like strong passwords and monitoring tools. It’s a practical guide for immediate action.
Top 16 Active Directory Vulnerabilities (infosecmatter.com, 2020): Published earlier, it details 16 vulnerabilities, useful for auditors to identify misconfigurations, emphasizing tools like BloodHound for detection.
Best Practices for Securing Active Directory (Microsoft Learn, 2023): From Microsoft, it provides authoritative advice on reducing attack surfaces and managing privileges, ideal for IT administrators.
What is Active Directory Security? (CrowdStrike, 2025): Highlights risks like credential theft, with best practices and tools like Falcon Identity Threat Detection for real-time protection.
Detecting and Mitigating Active Directory Compromises (CISA, 2024): A collaborative guide on 17 common techniques, offering moderate technical strategies for organizations to enhance AD security.
5 Common Active Directory Attack Methods (Questsys.com, 2023): Discusses methods like password spraying, providing an overview for IT teams to understand and counter threats.
What are the top Active Directory Security vulnerabilities I care about? (PwnDefend, 2024): Lists vulnerabilities like weak passwords and Kerberoasting, focusing on preventing ransomware, with plans for future remediation.
Active Directory Security Best Practices (SentinelOne, 2024): Offers 10 tips, including protecting against Golden Ticket attacks, using tools like Ranger AD for enhanced security.
Considerations in Mitigating Kerberos Vulnerabilities for Active Directory (IEEE Xplore, 2022): A research paper on Kerberos vulnerabilities, suggesting encryption and monitoring strategies to strengthen AD.
Walking Your Dog in Multiple Forests – Breaking AD Trust Boundaries through Kerberos Vulnerabilities (Dirk-Jan Mollema, Black Hat Webcast, 2021): A conference talk exploring Kerberos flaws in multi-forest AD, with a proof-of-concept demonstration, offering deep technical insights.

Survey Note: Comprehensive Analysis of Active Directory Security Vulnerabilities

This survey note provides an in-depth examination of the top 10 popular articles, research papers, and conference talks on Active Directory (AD) security vulnerabilities, identified through a systematic review of recent publications and presentations. The analysis, conducted as of February 26, 2025, aims to offer a detailed resource for IT professionals and security experts, covering a range of perspectives from practical guides to academic research and technical talks.

Methodology and Selection Criteria

The selection process involved searching for relevant content using queries like “Active Directory security vulnerabilities” and “Active Directory security vulnerabilities research papers,” focusing on popularity based on recency (2020-2025), source reputation (e.g., Microsoft, CISA, IEEE), and relevance to vulnerabilities. Conference talks were included to capture technical insights, ensuring a mix of articles, papers, and presentations. The final list prioritizes resources likely to be widely cited or discussed, with an emphasis on current insights given the evolving threat landscape.

Detailed Abstracts and Insights

The following table summarizes the selected resources, their publication details, and key findings, providing a structured overview for easy reference:

Resource Title	Source	Type	Publication Date	Key Findings
Top 10 Active Directory Attack Methods	lepide.com	Article	February 2025	Lists 10 attack methods (e.g., Kerberoasting, Password Spraying), offers mitigation like monitoring and strong passwords. Promotes Lepide’s AD Security solution.
Top 16 Active Directory Vulnerabilities	infosecmatter.com	Article	July 2020	Details 16 vulnerabilities, useful for penetration testers, emphasizes tools like BloodHound for detection, focuses on misconfigurations.
Best Practices for Securing Active Directory	Microsoft Learn	Article	October 2023	Provides Microsoft’s authoritative advice on reducing attack surfaces, managing privileges, and monitoring, based on internal expertise.
What is Active Directory Security?	CrowdStrike	Article	January 2025	Highlights risks like credential theft, offers best practices, and introduces Falcon Identity Threat Detection for real-time protection, with free trial links.
Detecting and Mitigating Active Directory Compromises	CISA	Resource	September 2024	Collaborative guide on 17 techniques, moderately technical, developed with international partners, focuses on detection and mitigation strategies.
5 Common Active Directory Attack Methods	Questsys.com	Blog Post	July 2023	Discusses methods like password spraying, provides overview for IT teams, likely includes countermeasures, though exact methods not detailed here.
What are the top Active Directory Security vulnerabilities I care about?	PwnDefend	Blog Post	March 2024	Lists vulnerabilities like weak passwords and Kerberoasting, focuses on ransomware prevention, plans for future remediation and redesign.
Active Directory Security Best Practices	SentinelOne	Article	July 2024	Offers 10 tips, including protecting against Golden Ticket attacks, uses tools like Ranger AD, emphasizes early detection and remediation.
Considerations in Mitigating Kerberos Vulnerabilities for Active Directory	IEEE Xplore	Research Paper	2022	Discusses Kerberos vulnerabilities, suggests strategies like encryption and monitoring, aims to strengthen AD infrastructure.
Walking Your Dog in Multiple Forests – Breaking AD Trust Boundaries through Kerberos Vulnerabilities	Black Hat Webcast	Conference Talk	June 2021	Explores Kerberos flaws in multi-forest AD, includes proof-of-concept, offers technical deep-dive into trust boundary breaches, crucial for advanced security.

Individual Resource Analysis

Each resource contributes uniquely to understanding AD security vulnerabilities:

Top 10 Active Directory Attack Methods (lepide.com, 2025) is recent and practical, focusing on actionable steps like disabling LLMNR and using real-time alerts, with a promotional angle for Lepide’s solution, read time 6 minutes, last updated February 21, 2025.
Top 16 Active Directory Vulnerabilities (infosecmatter.com, 2020) is older but comprehensive, with comments indicating usefulness for securing AD, though less current, published July 8, 2020.
Best Practices for Securing Active Directory (Microsoft Learn, 2023) is authoritative, covering common vulnerabilities and recommendations, published October 10, 2023, ideal for IT administrators.
What is Active Directory Security? (CrowdStrike, 2025) is very recent, emphasizing risks with statistics from Verizon 2021 reports, published January 6, 2025, includes free trial offers for Falcon.
Detecting and Mitigating Active Directory Compromises (CISA, 2024) is a government resource, collaborative, published September 24, 2024, assumes basic cybersecurity knowledge, moderately technical.
5 Common Active Directory Attack Methods (Questsys.com, 2023) is a blog post, published July 5, 2023, likely covers methods like ransomware exploiting AD, though exact content not fully accessible here.
What are the top Active Directory Security vulnerabilities I care about? (PwnDefend, 2024) lists 13 vulnerabilities, published March 3, 2024, focuses on ransomware prevention, with future plans for remediation.
Active Directory Security Best Practices (SentinelOne, 2024) is recent, published July 31, 2024, uses tools like Ranger AD, mentions Microsoft’s statistic of 95 million daily attacks, comprehensive for enterprises.
Considerations in Mitigating Kerberos Vulnerabilities for Active Directory (IEEE Xplore, 2022) is a research paper, likely cited in academic circles, focuses on Kerberos, published August 2022, suggests encryption and MFA.
Walking Your Dog in Multiple Forests – Breaking AD Trust Boundaries through Kerberos Vulnerabilities (Black Hat Webcast, 2021) is a technical talk, presented June 3, 2021, by Dirk-Jan Mollema, includes proof-of-concept, crucial for multi-forest environments, with speaker background in AD research at Fox-IT.

Additional Context and Relevance

The selection reflects the evolving nature of AD security, with recent publications (2024-2025) offering current insights into new attack vectors and mitigation strategies. The inclusion of conference talks, like Mollema’s, provides unexpected technical depth, appealing to advanced practitioners. The resources collectively address both theoretical and practical aspects, with tools like BloodHound, Ranger AD, and Falcon Identity Threat Detection mentioned, enhancing practical applicability. The focus on Kerberos vulnerabilities, as seen in multiple entries, underscores a critical area of AD security, with implications for multi-forest setups being particularly noteworthy.

Conclusion

This survey note compiles a comprehensive set of resources on AD security vulnerabilities, ensuring coverage of articles, research papers, and conference talks. It highlights the importance of staying updated with recent publications and leveraging both industry and academic insights for robust security practices. The detailed abstracts and table facilitate easy reference, making this a valuable tool for IT and security professionals.

Key Citations

※ This article is written by Grok. Fact-Check is required.