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Description

This analytic identifies instances where multiple users (more than 10 unique accounts) have failed to authenticate from a single IP address within a short time span (5 minutes). Such a pattern can be indicative of malicious activities, such as brute-force attacks or password spraying attempts. The detection leverages O365 audit logs, specifically focusing on Azure Active Directory login failures (AzureActiveDirectoryStsLogon). By aggregating these failures based on the source IP address and time, the analytic captures patterns where multiple unique user accounts have authentication failures from the same IP within a 5-minute window. Multiple authentication failures from a single IP address targeting various accounts can be a strong indicator of an attacker trying to gain unauthorized access. It could represent a brute-force attack, password spraying, or other malicious login attempts. Identifying and responding to such patterns promptly is crucial to prevent potential account compromises and unauthorized access to organizational resources. If the detection is a true positive, it suggests that an external entity is actively trying to breach the security by targeting multiple user accounts. While the attempts have been unsuccessful (as indicated by the login failures), it's a clear sign of malicious intent. Immediate action is required to block or monitor the suspicious IP, investigate the nature of the attempts, and potentially notify affected users to take precautionary measures like password changes or enabling multi-factor authentication.

  • Type: TTP

  • Product: Splunk Enterprise, Splunk Enterprise Security, Splunk Cloud

  • Last Updated: 2024-03-19
  • Author: Mauricio Velazco, Splunk
  • ID: 8d486e2e-3235-4cfe-ac35-0d042e24ecb4

Annotations

ATT&CK

ATT&CK

ID Technique Tactic
T1586 Compromise Accounts Resource Development
T1586.003 Cloud Accounts Resource Development
T1110 Brute Force Credential Access
T1110.003 Password Spraying Credential Access
T1110.004 Credential Stuffing Credential Access
Kill Chain Phase
  • Weaponization
  • Exploitation
NIST
  • DE.CM
CIS20
  • CIS 10
CVE 


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 `o365_management_activity` Workload=AzureActiveDirectory Operation=UserLoginFailed ErrorNumber=50126 
|  bucket span=5m _time 
|  stats dc(user) as unique_accounts values(user) as user values(LogonError) as LogonError values(signature) as signature values(UserAgent) as UserAgent by _time, src_ip 
|  where unique_accounts > 10 
| `o365_multiple_users_failing_to_authenticate_from_ip_filter`

Macros

The SPL above uses the following Macros:

:information_source: o365_multiple_users_failing_to_authenticate_from_ip_filter is a empty macro by default. It allows the user to filter out any results (false positives) without editing the SPL.

Required fields

List of fields required to use this analytic.

  • _time
  • Workload
  • Operation
  • record_type
  • user
  • LogonError
  • signature
  • UserAgent
  • ErrorNumber

How To Implement

You must install the Splunk Microsoft Office 365 Add-on and ingest Office 365 management activity events.

Known False Positives

A source Ip failing to authenticate with multiple users in a short period of time is not common legitimate behavior.

Associated Analytic Story

RBA

Risk Score Impact Confidence Message
63.0 70 90 Source Ip $src_ip$ failed to authenticate with 20 users within 5 minutes.

:information_source: The Risk Score is calculated by the following formula: Risk Score = (Impact * Confidence/100). Initial Confidence and Impact is set by the analytic author.

Reference

Test Dataset

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 | version: 2