auditpol.exe
Summary
Windows Audit Policy management tool. Configures which security events Windows logs. Attackers use it to disable audit logging for specific categories, blinding security monitoring.
auditpol.exe is the 2314th most commonly executed Windows program in EchoTrail's dataset, observed 208 times across enterprise environments. It typically runs from C:\Windows\System32 and it is most often launched by powershell.exe.
Behavior
Top Paths
- C:\Windows\System3298.08%
- C:\Windows\SysWOW641.92%
Top Hashes (SHA256)
- 08009f932d5a3ca2d856ab5a40a804b3fbb0c5083d0f2c8edcd17747a727a67975.36%
- d1c6ec7f394b59d067dfd47a6a65978e4c2cc73437457a4b78209e5f516471cc11.11%
- 5c922188be4b8a21bc874d96631c7422e19f4bc7aea973d13cd76f2d3f8b0b8a8.7%
- 92274459d15dd69e20598f5ce54933635c2bd916ca2b0a039f96be782fac1ca61.93%
- 7ba722d381aa8af4ee7091b421efba1568c56309bf78803af939c888b5cb14271.45%
- cdeff13f4ef1f7dd953d4496d253f6e7dddf53d60d0797f66fc249cdf4aada8b0.97%
- 2932f777b43b6a32ef307394a3b0a942197f95f6bb6dae3c4e68d9c44ff936b00.48%
Process Ancestry
Top Grandparents
- explorer.exe100%
Top Parents
- powershell.exe82.69%
- cmd.exe1.92%
- powershell_ise.exe0.48%
Top Children
- conhost.exe100%
Rare or environment-specific process names are omitted from ancestry tables. Percentages are of all observed relationships.
Security Analysis
What does auditpol.exe normally do?
Runs from C:\Windows\System32. Used by administrators and Group Policy to configure Windows audit policies. "auditpol /get /category:*" shows current settings. Rarely executed interactively.
When is auditpol.exe suspicious?
Any "auditpol /set" command that disables auditing (e.g., /success:disable /failure:disable). Clearing audit policies with "auditpol /clear". Execution by non-admin accounts. Execution outside of Group Policy refresh context.
How do attackers abuse auditpol.exe?
DEFENSE EVASION: After gaining admin access, attackers run: - "auditpol /set /category:"Logon/Logoff" /success:disable /failure:disable" — stops logging authentication events - "auditpol /set /subcategory:"Process Creation" /success:disable" — stops logging new processes - "auditpol /clear" — resets all audit policies to defaults (minimal logging) This is often combined with clearing existing event logs (wevtutil cl Security) to cover tracks. Ransomware operators commonly disable auditing early in the attack chain.
Detection guidance
HIGH-CONFIDENCE DETECTIONS: - auditpol.exe with /set and /success:disable or /failure:disable - auditpol.exe with /clear - auditpol.exe execution correlated with wevtutil cl commands DATA SOURCES: Process creation with command line (Sysmon 1, Windows 4688). Note: if audit policy is disabled, Windows won't log the 4688 event — use Sysmon as a backup.
False positive notes
Group Policy client (gpupdate) may invoke auditpol during policy refresh. Security hardening scripts may set audit policies. SCCM compliance baselines may query audit settings. "auditpol /get" (query only) is benign.
MITRE ATT&CK techniques
Related Processes
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Data from EchoTrail's dataset of ~346M Windows process executions. Last extracted 2026-08-04.