Why is joining the Digital Vault to an Active Directory Domain discouraged?

Joining the Digital Vault to an Active Directory Domain is discouraged primarily due to the increased risk of security vulnerabilities, such as pass-the-hash and golden ticket attacks. When the Digital Vault, which houses sensitive privileged credentials and secrets, is connected to Active Directory, it becomes susceptible to these types of attacks.

In a pass-the-hash attack, an attacker can exploit the ability to use hashed password values to authenticate users without knowing the plain-text password. Similarly, golden ticket attacks allow an attacker to create forged Kerberos tickets, granting them unauthorized access to resources within the network. These risks can significantly compromise the integrity and security of the Digital Vault, which is intended to protect sensitive information.

Thus, maintaining a level of separation between the Digital Vault and the Active Directory Domain helps to ensure that the most secure practices are followed, limiting attack vectors and protecting privileged credentials from being accessed through compromised Active Directory accounts.