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Posture check · Account security

Standing members in Schema Admins ​(T1078.002)

Members of Schema Admins can change the forest schema, which defines every object in the forest.

Why it matters

A schema change is hard to detect and hard to undo. Standing membership keeps that risk open all the time.

How GraphnAI finds it

It runs after every sync, on each connected domain or tenant on its own. It applies to Active Directory, in the forest root domain only.

It reads:

  • The directory attribute objectSid
  • Group memberships
  • The forest each domain belongs to

Tiered Fidelity™ level: Theoretical

Every finding from this check carries the Theoretical level.

  1. TheoreticalThis checkConfigured in the directory. Nothing else checked.
  2. ConstrainedA constraint on it has been checked.
  3. ValidatedTelemetry has seen it in use.

How Select Fire™ fixes it

How to fix it

Remove every member of Schema Admins. Add one only for an approved schema change, then remove it again.

What Select Fire changes

Select Fire opens from the finding and simulates each change on your live graph before anything changes in your directory.

  1. Remove group membershipSemi-Auto: you authorize each change. Full-Auto never runs it.

    Removing a member takes away its ability to change the forest schema. Add the member back for the duration of an approved schema change, then remove it again.

By hand: Remove every member, and add one back only for an approved schema change. The finding clears when the group is empty.

MITRE ATT&CK® technique names and MITRE D3FEND™ technique labels: © The MITRE Corporation. This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of The MITRE Corporation. ATT&CK® is a registered trademark and D3FEND™ a trademark of The MITRE Corporation.

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