How to Check Password Change History in Active Directory

Tracking the history of password changes in Active Directory (AD) is vital for ensuring security and accountability within your environment. While AD doesn’t provide a detailed, long-term log of password changes by default, there are still effective strategies to monitor and audit these events. With the right configuration, tools like Event Viewer, PowerShell, and optional third-party solutions can help administrators identify when passwords are changed or reset an important aspect of compliance and security oversight.

This article will explore three dependable methods for tracking password changes in AD and offer insights to help you catch any critical account activity.

Method 1: Using Event Logs

When users update their passwords, Windows Server's Event Logs keep track of these changes, provided that password change auditing is turned on.

1. Enable Auditing (if not already enabled):
   • Open Group Policy Management (gpmc.msc).
   • Navigate to Computer Configuration > Policies > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Advanced Audit Policy Configuration > Logon/Logoff.
   • Enable Audit Logon Events & Audit Account Logon Events.
   • Make sure that Audit Directory Service Access is enabled under Security Settings > Advanced Audit Policy.
2. View the Event Logs:
   • Open Event Viewer (eventvwr.msc).
   • Head over to Windows Logs > Security.
   • Search for Event ID 4723, which signifies a password change attempt; Event ID 4724, indicating a password reset; and Event ID 628, representing a password change.
   • Filter the logs for these specific events to keep track of the password change history.
3. Event Details:
   
   • In the Event Details section, you’ll find information about the user account along with the timestamp of when the password change occurred.

Method 2: Using PowerShell (with Auditing Enabled)

If you have auditing turned on, PowerShell can be a handy tool for checking out password-related events.

1. Search Event Logs for Password Changes: To find password change events, just run this command:

    

   • Get-WinEvent -LogName Security | Where-Object { $_.Id -eq 4723 -or $_.Id -eq 4724 -or $_.Id -eq 628 } | Format-Table TimeCreated, Id, Message -AutoSize 

2. Interpret the Results: This command will show you when the password changes happened and give you details about the users involved in each event.

You can expect the output to look something like this:

• TimeCreated shows the time when the event occurred.
• Id represents the Event ID (4723, 4724, 628).
• Message provides additional details like the user who performed the action or the target user account.

Method 3: Using a Third-Party Tool (Optional)

If you're looking for more in-depth history and reporting options, you might want to check out third-party tools like Netwrix Auditor, Lepide Auditor, or Specops. These tools can give you a more detailed look at password changes, including a timeline of changes and extra reporting features.

Limitations and Considerations:

• Default retention: Keep in mind that event logs don’t stick around forever by default; older events can get overwritten after a while based on your server's log settings (like log size and retention period). If you want to maintain a longer history, think about extending log retention or exporting logs to a centralized logging solution.
• PowerShell speed: When dealing with large networks, running log queries with PowerShell can take some time, depending on how many events there are. In these situations, narrowing down the logs to a specific time frame can help speed things up.

To track password changes in Active Directory, you need to enable auditing first, then check the Event Logs or use PowerShell to query those logs. The key events to keep an eye on are Event IDs 4723, 4724, and 628. By making sure auditing is set up properly, you can effectively capture and monitor password change attempts and resets.