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ldeep

2.0.3 open-source

ldeep is a Python tool that queries Active DirectoryActive DirectoryMicrosoft's directory service for Windows networks that centralises authentication and authorisation; cyber tools target or integrate with it because it controls identity and access across most enterprise environments. LDAPLDAPA protocol for querying and modifying directory services, standardized under RFC 4511, commonly used to look up users, groups, and attributes in corporate identity stores like Active Directory. servers or cached files to enumerate users, groups, GPOs, trusts, and other domain objects.

Summary

ldeep is an open-source command-line tool for querying and enumerating Active Directory over LDAP, pulling users, groups, GPOs, delegations, certificate templates and similar objects either live from a domain controller or from locally cached data collected earlier. It is aimed at penetration testers and red teamers doing domain reconnaissance, including offline analysis when direct access to the environment is no longer available. First committed in 2017, it has 38 contributors and has seen 51 commits and 20 releases in the past year, the latest 90 days ago.

ldeep is a Python tool that queries Active Directory LDAP servers or cached files to enumerate users, groups, GPOs, trusts, and other domain objects.

How ldeep helps

Which accounts in this domain have delegation or certificate template settings an attacker could abuse?

pulls delegation configurations and certificate templates over LDAP, including attributes tied to certificate template abuse, so exposed paths surface in one query

Who has access to the Local Administrator passwords in this environment?

enumerates the principals granted read access to LAPS-protected attributes, live or from cached data, showing who can retrieve those passwords

Which groups does this account actually belong to once nested memberships are unwound?

resolves group membership recursively across the full hierarchy, so indirect access through nested groups is listed alongside direct membership

Can I still analyze this domain after my access to it is gone?

works the same way against a locally cached copy of previously collected data as it does live against a domain controller, so the same queries run offline

Is this domain controller enforcing LDAP signing and channel binding the way it should be?

checks the LDAP signing and channel binding configuration directly and reports where the policy is misconfigured

Which domain objects does a given query actually return, and can I keep that as a record?

writes results for users, groups, GPOs, OUs and other object types to an output file, giving a saved dataset rather than only console output

all 13 features, with the evidence for each →

Languages

Not documented

Features

13 capabilities · 3 backed by code, an API document or a real run

Built from ldeep's releases, docs, README and our own runs. “Seen” marks the month we first spotted a release the vendor didn't date. Group names and tags are our labels.

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  • ldeep covers 1 of the 13 network discovery and scanning capabilities we track.

What ldeep offers you

  • Command-line interface3
  • Offline mode1
All capabilities 13 capabilities
LDAP forest querying verified suggested Queries LDAP directory forests, with the forest base resolved automatically from the remote LDAP or supplied manually. 6 releases · 2 other sources · first seen Jun 2024

Suggested capability: Attack surface inventory. This is our guess, not confirmed.

Also counts toward: Command-line interface

release

  • Refactors membersof and memberships commands with improved recursion, output readability, and full cache mode support. 2.0.0 · Feb 2026 · source · release history
  • Enables optional name filtering for OU, GPO, and computer operations, allowing broader enumeration without specifying a target name. 2.0.0 · Feb 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds format and filter options for DNS records returned during LDAP enumeration. 1.0.86 · May 2025 · source · release history
  • Adds schema partition dump capability to enumerate the AD schema partition. 1.0.82 · Mar 2025 · source · release history
  • Adds msPKI-Template-Schema-Version attribute enumeration to support ESC15 certificate template abuse detection. 1.0.70 · Oct 2024 · source · release history
  • ldeep now accepts a --passwordnotrequired flag on relevant subcommands (e.g., users) to filter accounts where password change is not required. 1.0.58 · Jun 2024 · source · release history

command line

  • --forest-base — LDAP forest base for query (by default, this value is pulled from remote Ldap) 1.0.86 · May 2025 · command-line history

example

  • List domain users who have the Password does not expire or similar setting allowing a non-required password change, useful for identifying weaker auth states. ldeep ldap -h <host> -u <user> -p <pass> users --passwordnotrequired 1.0.58 · Jun 2024 · source
Active Directory attribute formatting shipped Provides formatters to decode and display AD attributes (such as group types, Kerberos encryption types, and SIDs) in human-readable formats. 4 releases · first seen Feb 2026

release

  • Adds a groupType formatter to decode AD group type flags into readable labels. 2.0.0 · Feb 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds a kerberos_enc_type formatter to display supported Kerberos encryption types for accounts. 2.0.0 · Feb 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds formatters for multiple AD attribute types, improving human-readable output across queries. 2.0.0 · Feb 2026 · source · release history
  • Improves formatting of principals and SIDs in command output. 2.0.0 · Feb 2026 · source · release history
Encrypted communication verified Controls whether traffic between the tool and remote endpoints is encrypted. 2 releases · 2 other sources · first seen Jul 2024

Also counts toward: Command-line interface

release

  • Adds --no-encryption option to connect to LDAP without encryption 1.0.62 · Sep 2024 · source · release history
  • Adds LDAP signing and LDAPS channel binding support for authenticated connections 1.0.59 · Jul 2024 · source · release history

command line

  • --no-encryption — Encrypt the communication or not (default True) 1.0.62 · Sep 2024 · command-line history

example

  • Query an LDAP server that doesn't support TLS or STARTTLS, such as a legacy DC in a lab environment ldeep ldap --no-encryption -u <user> -p <password> -d <domain> -s <server> all 1.0.62 · Sep 2024 · source
Protections enumeration verified suggested Enumerates protections present in the target environment. 1 release · 2 other sources · first seen Mar 2025

Suggested capability: Attack surface inventory. This is our guess, not confirmed.

release

  • Adds recursive resolution to the membersof module, enumerating nested group members across the full AD hierarchy. 1.0.84 · Mar 2025 · source · release history

command line

example

  • Enumerate all effective members of a group including nested group memberships — useful for finding indirect access paths during an AD assessment. ldeep ldap membersof --recursive "Domain Admins" 1.0.84 · Mar 2025 · source
LAPS enumeration shipped suggested Identifies principals with access to Local Administrator Password Solution attributes. 2 releases · first seen Apr 2025

Suggested capability: Attack surface inventory. This is our guess, not confirmed.

Also counts toward: Offline mode

release

  • Adds LAPS support in cache mode, enabling offline inspection of LAPS-protected attributes. 2.0.0 · Feb 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds enumeration of LAPS readers — identifying principals with access to Local Administrator Password Solution attributes. 1.0.85 · Apr 2025 · source · release history
GMSA account filtering shipped Queries Group Managed Service Accounts with filters such as sAMAccountName for targeted lookup. 2 releases · first seen Nov 2024

release

  • Supports binary SID format, enabling correct resolution of SIDs stored in binary encoding. 1.0.88 · Sep 2025 · source · release history
  • Adds sAMAccountName filter to the GMSA query, enabling targeted lookup of specific managed service accounts. 1.0.73 · Nov 2024 · source · release history
LDAP Signing and LDAPS Channel Binding verification shipped Detects misconfigured Active Directory signing and binding policies by verifying LDAP Signing and LDAPS Channel Binding configurations. 1 release · 1 other source · first seen Jul 2024

release

  • New LDAP Signing and LDAPS Channel Binding verification capability to detect misconfigured AD signing/binding policies. 1.0.88 · Sep 2025 · source · release history

example

  • Connect to an LDAP server with channel binding and signing enabled for stronger security. ldeep ldap connect --binding ldaps --channel-binding --signing <domain> 1.0.59 · Jul 2024 · source
Recursive group enumeration shipped Recursively enumerates group memberships, including primary group assignments. 1 release · 1 other source · first seen Jul 2024

release

  • Enables recursive group enumeration for the primary group 1.0.59 · Jul 2024 · source · release history

example

  • Enumerate groups recursively, including the primary group membership. ldeep ldap groups <target> --recursive --primary-group 1.0.59 · Jul 2024 · source
Foreign Security Principal management shipped Manages Foreign Security Principals in Active Directory, including their removal. 1 release · first seen May 2026

Also counts toward: Command-line interface

release

  • Adds a new command to remove a Foreign Security Principal (FSP) from Active Directory. 2.0.3 · May 2026 · source · release history
Active Directory functional level recognition shipped Identifies and recognizes specific Active Directory functional levels within PKI/AD information modules. 1 release · first seen Feb 2026

release

  • Adds Active Directory functional level 2025 recognition in the PKI/AD info module. 2.0.0 · Feb 2026 · source · release history
Cross-domain group membership modification shipped Modifies group memberships to include foreign users across domain boundaries. 1 release · first seen Feb 2026

release

  • Allows foreign (cross-domain) users to be added to groups via add_to_group. 2.0.0 · Feb 2026 · source · release history
ADCS template enumeration shipped Enumerates certificate template configurations in Active Directory Certificate Services to identify potential abuse vectors. 1 release · first seen Sep 2024

Shared capability: Attack surface inventory

release

  • Adds ADCS template enumeration to surface certificate template configurations in Active Directory Certificate Services. 1.0.64 · Sep 2024 · source · release history
Password Settings Object (PSO) enumeration shipped suggested Enumerates Password Settings Objects (PSO) in the target environment, including retrieval by accounts with low privileges. 1 release · first seen Jul 2024

Suggested capability: Attack surface inventory. This is our guess, not confirmed.

release

  • Allows Password Settings Object (PSO) enumeration by a user with low privileges 1.0.59 · Jul 2024 · source · release history

Lines in monospace are the tool's own words: help text parsed from its source, or an endpoint from its API document. Under release, a line is our summary of a dated release. Under docs, it is quoted from the tool's own documentation or website. Each links back to the source it came from.

Score card

  1. Shipping velocity releases a month, last 12 months
  2. Documentation quality release-notes rubric, 0–100
  3. Breaking-change discipline how rarely a release breaks users, and notice given
  4. Maintenance risk quiet time against its own cadence, maintainers
  5. Innovation & surface new capabilities, API and MCP surface
  6. Community health
  7. Contributor trend distinct committers, this year against last
  8. Maintainer concentration bus factor now against a year ago
  9. Issue backlog trend issues closed per issue opened, 12 months
  10. Responsiveness median time to a maintainer’s first reply

Nine scores for ldeep, each built from the releases, notes and API history this site tracks — and, on Researcher and Business, where it stands among every measured tool in its category and how that has moved.

Score cards are part of every paid plan.

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Each score is 0–100 on a published rubric, derived from data this site already shows. A dimension we cannot measure says so — it is never scored 0 and never enters a rank.

How this is scored
  • Shipping velocity — releases a month over the last 12 months, on a log scale where 16 a month scores 100. Needs 3 releases in the window.
  • Documentation quality — the release-notes rubric published on the analytics page, unchanged.
  • Breaking-change discipline — the share of releases carrying a breaking change (none scores 100, half or more scores 0). Only projects that label breaking changes are measured: a clean record cannot be told from an unlabelled one.
  • Maintenance risk — quiet time measured against the tool's own release cadence (quiet longer than 90 days and three typical gaps scores 0), plus the number of active maintainers and whether contributors are growing, where known. Higher is lower risk.
  • Innovation & surface — new capabilities in the feature ledger this year, API and MCP operations added, and the share of commits that are features: the mean of whichever we hold.
  • Community health (open-source tools only) — each is a direction, not a size: contributors this year against last, the bus factor now against a year ago, and issues closed per issue opened, where steady scores 50, doubled 100 and halved 0; plus the median time to a maintainer's first reply (an hour scores about 100, a month or more 0). A commercial card has no repository and carries none of the four.
  • Documented delivery (commercial tools) — when a vendor's documented new capabilities have slowed against its own baseline, that counts against the overall standing as heavily as two low dimensions. Steady delivery, or too little history to judge, leaves the standing alone; it is never a sixth score.
  • Open-source tools are scored on repository signals; commercial tools on their published changelog. Ranks compare tools within one category and one profile and need at least five measured peers; the overall standing needs three ranked dimensions. Best-in-breed or consolidator is a shape, not a quality, and is never scored.

Release-note detail over time

See how much detail ldeep puts in its release notes, quarter by quarter, and compare it with tracked tools in the same category. This history uses up to ten retained, reviewed notes per tool; sparse or blank older quarters may reflect that limit.

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Releases

13 entries

  1. May 20261
  2. February 20261
  3. September 20251
  4. May 20251
  5. April 20251
  6. March 20252
  7. November 20241
  8. October 20241
  9. September 20242
  10. July 20241
  11. June 20241

    13 entries

    Project health

    Issue, contributor and maintainer activity in franc-pentest/ldeep, 2023-12 – 2026-11, as of 2026-11-03. Twelve-month figures first; the trend lines run the whole window.

    1. Contributors 9 ±0 vs prior 12 months
    2. Maintainers 3 +2 joined · −3 left, last 12 months
    3. Bus factor 2 committers behind half the commits
    4. Community-filed 0% of issues opened, last 12 months
    5. Median time to close 14 days first maintainer reply 14 days
    6. Open backlog 1 of 26 issues ever filed
    1. Issues opened / month 0 · 0 communitymaintainers
    2. Open backlog 1
    3. Contributors / month 0
    4. Commits / month 0
    5. Stars 607
    Issue themes, last 12 months
    • bugs 34%
    • features 33%
    • other 33%

    Counts from the project's public repository and git history; no individuals are identified. Maintainers are the committers covering 80% of the last year's commits. how we measure this

    Articles

    1 article · updated Nov 5, 2026

    Where ldeep turns up in what others publish: how-tos, attack reports that name it, and incident write-ups. A row says why it is here and quotes where the article names it; the link goes to the publisher.

    Tutorials & guides 1

    • Active Directory Enumeration: ldeep Hacking Articles
      ldeep is a post-exploitation LDAP enumeration tool designed for use in Active Directory environments.
      2 more quotes
      Table of Contents Overview of the ldeep Key Features Prerequisites Setup/Configuration Enumeration and Exploitation Conclusion Overview of the ldeep Security professionals use LDEEP (Deep Enumeration and Escalation…
      Once they gain an initial foothold on a system, LDEEP helps them identify weak configurations, exposed credentials, mismanaged permissions, and potential privilege escalation vectors in an organized, scriptable way.

    Libraries its release ships

    What its latest release locks, checked against known advisories.

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