Certificate Services received a certificate request
A user, computer, or process submitted a certificate enrollment request to AD CS (`PKI`).
Event ID 4886 logs incoming Certificate Signing Requests (`CSR`) to Active Directory Certificate Services (`AD CS`). When auditing AD CS abuse (`ESC1 through ESC14`), event `4886` records the initial enrollment request, requested template name (`CertificateTemplate`), and requesting user (`Requester`).
Failure Reason / Root Cause:
Certificate enrollment request (`Request ID`) submitted to AD CS Certificate Authority.
Raw Event XML snippet
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-Security-Auditing" Guid="{54849625-5478-4994-A5BA-3E3B0328C30D}" />
<EventID>4886</EventID>
<Version>0</Version>
<Level>0</Level>
<Task>12544</Task>
<Opcode>0</Opcode>
<Keywords>0x8020000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2026-07-17T09:54:44.918Z" />
<EventRecordID>1048576</EventRecordID>
<Correlation />
<Execution ProcessID="612" ThreadID="1024" />
<Channel>Security</Channel>
<Computer>DC01.enterprise.internal</Computer>
<Security />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data Name="SubjectUserSid">S-1-5-18</Data>
<Data Name="SubjectUserName">SYSTEM</Data>
<Data Name="SubjectDomainName">NT AUTHORITY</Data>
<Data Name="SubjectLogonId">0x3e7</Data>
<!-- Event telemetry fields specific to Certificate Services received a certificate request -->
</EventData>
</Event>MITRE ATT&CK mapping
| ID | Technique | Tactic |
|---|---|---|
T1649 | Steal or Forge Authentication Certificates | Credential Access |
T1078.002 | Valid Accounts: Domain Accounts | Privilege Escalation |
Recommended actions
- Correlate `Request ID` with `4887` (`Certificate issued`) and inspect `CertificateTemplate` for vulnerable misconfigurations (`Enrollee Supplies Subject`, `Client Authentication`).