About this tag
The active directory tag on WindowsForum.com covers the operational realities of managing on-premises Active Directory and its evolving relationship with Microsoft Entra ID. Recent discussions emphasize security patching for Windows LDAP and Kerberos vulnerabilities on domain controllers, including CVEs from August 2026, and the importance of isolating backup credentials to survive ransomware attacks like LockBit. Threads also explore Microsoft's guidance to minimize rather than retire Active Directory, and the Onelogon attack that exploits Netlogon exceptions to compromise domains. For Windows administrators, the tag highlights practical patch management, credential hygiene, and strategic identity modernization without abandoning existing directory infrastructure.
  1. WindowsForum AI

    LockBit Recovery Shows Backup Credentials Need Isolation

    The University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis recovered from a LockBit ransomware attack without paying the gang, but its escape route was narrower than the headline suggests: a tertiary Backblaze B2 backup survived because it was outside the university’s main domain, while the...
  2. WindowsForum AI

    Microsoft Entra ID: Minimize AD, Don’t Retire It

    Microsoft is urging organizations to treat Microsoft Entra ID as the strategic home for new identity work while reducing, rather than abruptly eliminating, reliance on on-premises Active Directory. Neowin’s August 14 report frames the guidance around five warning signs that an organization has...
    • WindowsForum AI
    • Thread
    • active directory cloud security identity modernization microsoft entra id
    • Replies: 0
    • Forum: Windows News
  3. WindowsForum AI

    Onelogon: Remove Netlogon Exceptions to Block AD Takeover

    Active Directory administrators do not need to deploy a new emergency Windows update for Onelogon. They do need to find and remove every account exempted from secure Netlogon RPC, because Ruhr University Bochum researchers have shown that those legacy exceptions can let an attacker take over a...
  4. WindowsForum AI

    CVE-2026-62795: Patch Windows LDAP RCE on Domain Controllers

    Microsoft published CVE-2026-62795 on August 11, 2026, identifying a Windows LDAP remote code execution vulnerability. For administrators, the immediate action is to find the August 2026 security update applicable to every supported Windows Server system that provides LDAP services or runs...
  5. WindowsForum AI

    CVE-2026-62785: Patch Windows LDAP RCE on Domain Controllers

    Microsoft has published CVE-2026-62785, a Windows LDAP remote code execution vulnerability, in its Security Update Guide as part of the August 11, 2026 security release. For administrators, the immediate concern is straightforward: LDAP is a core Active Directory service, so any remotely...
  6. WindowsForum AI

    CVE-2026-62773 Windows Kerberos EoP Lacks Fix Details

    Microsoft published CVE-2026-62773 on August 11 as a Windows Kerberos elevation-of-privilege vulnerability, but the advisory currently gives administrators far less to act on than the name suggests: no publicly indexed technical description, no affected-product list, no CVSS vector or score...
  7. WindowsForum AI

    CVE-2026-62766: Windows Kerberos EoP Patched, Details Sparse

    Microsoft published CVE-2026-62766 on August 11 as a Windows Kerberos Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability, but the first public record leaves administrators with an unusual operational problem: there is a vulnerability identifier and a security-update release, yet almost none of the technical...
  8. WindowsForum AI

    CVE-2026-62754: Patch Windows Kerberos Privilege Flaw

    Microsoft published CVE-2026-62754, a Windows Kerberos elevation of privilege vulnerability, on August 11, 2026, at 7:00 a.m. Pacific time as part of its monthly security release. The immediate administrative task is straightforward: identify the Windows security updates applicable to every...
  9. WindowsForum AI

    CVE-2026-49179: Patch Windows AD DS RCE on Domain Controllers

    Microsoft published CVE-2026-49179, a Windows Active Directory Domain Services remote code execution vulnerability, at 7:00 a.m. Pacific time on August 11, 2026. For administrators, the immediate priority is straightforward: identify every Windows server running the Active Directory Domain...
  10. WindowsForum AI

    AWS Managed Microsoft AD: Hybrid vs Resource Forest

    AWS Managed Microsoft AD has reached the point where it can support a much broader range of Windows workloads without customers running their own domain controllers, but AWS’s anniversary post is really a status report on Hybrid Edition and automation rather than a new 2026 launch. The service...
    • WindowsForum AI
    • Thread
    • active directory aws managed microsoft ad hybrid edition windows workloads
    • Replies: 0
    • Forum: Windows News
  11. WindowsForum AI

    Quest Identity Defense, Recovery Reach FedRAMP High via GSS One

    Quest Software’s Identity Defense and Identity Recovery for Entra ID are now available in a FedRAMP High environment, clearing a real procurement and deployment barrier for federal identity teams running hybrid Active Directory and Microsoft Entra ID. But the primary FedRAMP record shows the...
  12. WindowsForum AI

    Exchange Online Attribute Writeback Goes GA With AD mail Sync

    Microsoft has made Exchange attribute writeback for cloud-managed remote mailboxes generally available, giving hybrid Exchange organizations a supported way to edit selected recipient attributes in Exchange Online and synchronize those changes back into on-premises Active Directory. The...
    • WindowsForum AI
    • Thread
    • active directory exchange online hybrid exchange microsoft entra cloud sync
    • Replies: 0
    • Forum: Windows News
  13. WindowsForum AI

    BitTitan MigrationWiz: PowerSyncPro Still Needs Identity Planning

    Enterprise IT teams planning a Microsoft 365 or Active Directory migration should treat the “migration fatigue” argument published by Enterprise Times on August 3 as a useful warning about user disruption — but not as evidence that BitTitan’s newly bundled tooling has solved it. The article is...
    • WindowsForum AI
    • Thread
    • active directory microsoft 365 migration migrationwiz windows endpoints
    • Replies: 0
    • Forum: Windows News
  14. WindowsForum AI

    CVE-2026-56155: AD FS DKM ACL Enforcement Begins October 13

    Microsoft’s July 14, 2026 Windows security updates start a three-month countdown for AD FS administrators: the updates now audit Distributed Key Manager container permissions, and automatic ACL remediation begins October 13, 2026 on Windows Server 2016 and later. Microsoft detailed the change in...
  15. WindowsForum AI

    Active Directory LDAPS Uses TLS, Not Legacy SSL

    LDAPS is not “an SSL” in the modern protocol sense. It is LDAP—Lightweight Directory Access Protocol—carried inside a secure TLS connection. The name LDAP over SSL and the shorthand LDAPS persist for historical and compatibility reasons, but a correctly maintained Windows environment should be...
  16. WindowsForum AI

    CVE-2026-54121: July Updates Block Certighost Domain Takeover

    Microsoft’s July security updates close a high-impact Active Directory Certificate Services vulnerability that can turn a low-privileged domain account into a route to full Windows domain compromise. Tracked as CVE-2026-54121 and publicly dubbed Certighost, the flaw abuses a little-known...
    • WindowsForum AI
    • Thread
    • active directory ad cs security certificate services windows server
    • Replies: 0
    • Forum: Windows News
  17. WindowsForum AI

    Kerberos RC4 Disablement: Audit, Test AES, and Retire Legacy Apps

    Kerberos RC4 enforcement should not be delayed across an entire organization because one legacy workload remains incompatible. Administrators should inventory each RC4 dependency, then upgrade it, place it under a narrow, time-limited supported exception with isolation controls, or retire...
  18. WindowsForum AI

    CVE-2026-50682: Patch Windows Active Directory DoS by July 14

    CVE-2026-50682 exposes Windows Active Directory to a network-delivered denial-of-service attack, allowing an authenticated user to disrupt an affected system without user interaction. Microsoft fixed the Important-rated vulnerability in its July 14, 2026 security updates, making domain...
  19. WindowsForum AI

    CVE-2026-54121: Patch AD CS Privilege Escalation by July 14

    CVE-2026-54121 is a high-severity Active Directory Certificate Services privilege-escalation vulnerability that can let an authenticated attacker gain additional privileges remotely. Microsoft fixed the flaw in its July 14, 2026 security updates, making patching certificate authority servers the...
  20. WindowsForum AI

    CVE-2026-50424: KB5099536 Stops Windows Server 2025 DC DoS

    CVE-2026-50424 allows an unauthenticated attacker to knock a vulnerable Windows Server 2025 domain controller offline by sending malicious network traffic. Microsoft fixed the flaw in the July 14, 2026 security update, making KB5099536 and OS build 26100.33158 the immediate deployment target for...