GitHub Repo

Detection: PingID Multiple Failed MFA Requests For User

Updated Date: 2026-05-13 ID: c1bc706a-0025-4814-ad30-288f38865036 Author: Steven Dick Type: TTP Product: Splunk Enterprise Security

Description

The following analytic identifies multiple failed multi-factor authentication (MFA) requests for a single user within a PingID environment. It triggers when 10 or more MFA prompts fail within 10 minutes, using JSON logs from PingID. This activity is significant as it may indicate an adversary attempting to bypass MFA by bombarding the user with repeated authentication requests. If confirmed malicious, this could lead to unauthorized access, as the user might eventually accept the fraudulent request, compromising the security of the account and potentially the entire network.

1`pingid` "result.status" IN ("FAILURE,authFail","UNSUCCESSFUL_ATTEMPT") 
2| eval time = _time, src = coalesce('resources{}.ipaddress','resources{}.devicemodel'), user = upper('actors{}.name'), object = 'resources{}.devicemodel', reason = 'result.message'
3| bucket span=10m _time 
4| stats dc(_raw) AS mfa_prompts min(time) as firstTime, max(time) as lastTime values(src) as src by user, reason, _time 
5| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
6| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` 
7| where mfa_prompts >= 10 
8| `pingid_multiple_failed_mfa_requests_for_user_filter`

Data Source

Name Platform Sourcetype Source
PingID Other 'XmlWinEventLog' 'XmlWinEventLog:Security'

Macros Used

Name Value
pingid source=PINGID
pingid_multiple_failed_mfa_requests_for_user_filter search *
pingid_multiple_failed_mfa_requests_for_user_filter is an empty macro by default. It allows the user to filter out any results (false positives) without editing the SPL.

Annotations

- MITRE ATT&CK
+ Kill Chain Phases
+ NIST
+ CIS
- Threat Actors
ID Technique Tactic
T1078 Valid Accounts Initial Access
T1110 Brute Force Persistence
T1621 Multi-Factor Authentication Request Generation Privilege Escalation
Exploitation
Installation
Delivery
DE.CM
CIS 10

Default Configuration

This detection is configured by default in Splunk Enterprise Security to run with the following settings:

Setting Value
Disabled true
Cron Schedule 0 * * * *
Earliest Time -70m@m
Latest Time -10m@m
Schedule Window auto
Creates Finding (Notable) Yes
Rule Title %name%
Rule Description %description%
Notable Event Fields user, dest
Creates Intermediate Finding (Risk Event) No
TTP detections generate a Finding (Notable) and may generate Intermediate Findings (Risk Events) for associated entities.

Implementation

Target environment must ingest JSON logging from a PingID(PingOne) enterprise environment, either via Webhook or Push Subscription.

Known False Positives

False positives may be generated by normal provisioning workflows for user device registration.

Associated Analytic Story

Finding

Title Entity Field Entity Type Risk Score
Multiple Failed MFA requests $mfa_prompts$ for user $user$ between $firstTime$ and $lastTime$. user user 50

References

Detection Testing

Test Type Status Dataset Source Sourcetype
Validation ✅ Passing N/A N/A N/A
Unit ✅ Passing Dataset PINGID _json
Integration ✅ Passing Dataset PINGID _json

Replay any dataset to Splunk Enterprise by using our replay.py tool or the UI. Alternatively you can replay a dataset into a Splunk Attack Range

Source: GitHub | Version: 8