| name | performing-service-account-audit |
| description | Audit service accounts across enterprise infrastructure to identify orphaned, over-privileged, and non-compliant accounts. This skill covers discovery of service accounts in Active Directory, cloud pl |
| domain | cybersecurity |
| subdomain | identity-access-management |
| tags | ["iam","identity","access-control","service-accounts","audit","governance"] |
| version | 1.0 |
| author | mahipal |
| license | Apache-2.0 |
| nist_csf | ["PR.AA-01","PR.AA-02","PR.AA-05","PR.AA-06"] |
Performing Service Account Audit
Overview
Audit service accounts across enterprise infrastructure to identify orphaned, over-privileged, and non-compliant accounts. This skill covers discovery of service accounts in Active Directory, cloud platforms, databases, and applications, assessing privilege levels, identifying missing owners, and enforcing lifecycle policies.
When to Use
- When conducting security assessments that involve performing service account audit
- When following incident response procedures for related security events
- When performing scheduled security testing or auditing activities
- When validating security controls through hands-on testing
Prerequisites
- Familiarity with identity access management concepts and tools
- Access to a test or lab environment for safe execution
- Python 3.8+ with required dependencies installed
- Appropriate authorization for any testing activities
Objectives
- Discover all service accounts across AD, cloud, databases, and applications
- Identify orphaned accounts with no valid owner or associated application
- Assess privilege levels and flag over-privileged service accounts
- Check for non-rotating passwords and weak authentication
- Map service account dependencies for safe remediation
- Generate compliance reports for SOX, PCI DSS, and HIPAA audits
Key Concepts
Service Account Types
- AD Service Accounts: Windows services, scheduled tasks, IIS app pools
- Managed Service Accounts (gMSA): AD-managed automatic password rotation
- Cloud IAM Service Accounts: AWS IAM roles/users, Azure service principals, GCP service accounts
- Database Service Accounts: Application connection accounts, replication accounts
- Application Service Accounts: API keys, bot accounts, integration accounts
Audit Dimensions
- Ownership: Who is responsible for this account?
- Purpose: What application/service uses this account?
- Privileges: What permissions does this account have?
- Authentication: How does this account authenticate (password, key, certificate)?
- Rotation: When was the credential last changed?
- Activity: When was this account last used?
Workflow
