Detection: Azure AD Authentication Failed During MFA Challenge

Updated Date: 2024-09-24 ID: e62c9c2e-bf51-4719-906c-3074618fcc1c Author: Mauricio Velazco, Gowthamaraj Rajendran, Splunk Type: TTP Product: Splunk Enterprise Security

Description

The following analytic identifies failed authentication attempts against an Azure AD tenant during the Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) challenge, specifically flagged by error code 500121. It leverages Azure AD SignInLogs to detect these events. This activity is significant as it may indicate an adversary attempting to authenticate using compromised credentials on an account with MFA enabled. If confirmed malicious, this could suggest an ongoing effort to bypass MFA protections, potentially leading to unauthorized access and further compromise of the affected account.

1`azure_monitor_aad` category=SignInLogs properties.status.errorCode=500121 
2| rename properties.* as * 
3| stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime by user, src_ip, status.additionalDetails, appDisplayName, user_agent 
4| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` 
5| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` 
6| `azure_ad_authentication_failed_during_mfa_challenge_filter`

Data Source

Name Platform Sourcetype Source Supported App
Azure Active Directory Azure icon Azure 'azure:monitor:aad' 'Azure AD' N/A

Macros Used

Name Value
azure_monitor_aad sourcetype=azure:monitor:aad
azure_ad_authentication_failed_during_mfa_challenge_filter search *
azure_ad_authentication_failed_during_mfa_challenge_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
T1586 Compromise Accounts Resource Development
T1586.003 Cloud Accounts Resource Development
T1078 Valid Accounts Defense Evasion
T1078.004 Cloud Accounts Initial Access
T1621 Multi-Factor Authentication Request Generation Persistence
KillChainPhase.DELIVERY
KillChainPhase.EXPLOITAITON
KillChainPhase.INSTALLATION
KillChainPhase.WEAPONIZATION
NistCategory.DE_CM
Cis18Value.CIS_10
APT29
APT18
APT28
APT29
APT33
APT39
APT41
Akira
Axiom
Carbanak
Chimera
Cinnamon Tempest
Dragonfly
FIN10
FIN4
FIN5
FIN6
FIN7
FIN8
Fox Kitten
GALLIUM
Ke3chang
LAPSUS$
Lazarus Group
Leviathan
OilRig
POLONIUM
PittyTiger
Sandworm Team
Silence
Silent Librarian
Suckfly
Threat Group-3390
Wizard Spider
menuPass
APT28
APT29
APT33
APT5
Ke3chang
LAPSUS$
APT29
LAPSUS$
Scattered Spider

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 Notable Yes
Rule Title %name%
Rule Description %description%
Notable Event Fields user, dest
Creates Risk Event True
This configuration file applies to all detections of type TTP. These detections will use Risk Based Alerting and generate Notable Events.

Implementation

You must install the latest version of Splunk Add-on for Microsoft Cloud Services from Splunkbase (https://splunkbase.splunk.com/app/3110/#/details). You must be ingesting Azure Active Directory events into your Splunk environment through an EventHub. This analytic was written to be used with the azure:monitor:aad sourcetype leveraging the SignInLogs log category.

Known False Positives

Legitimate users may miss to reply the MFA challenge within the time window or deny it by mistake.

Associated Analytic Story

Risk Based Analytics (RBA)

Risk Message Risk Score Impact Confidence
User $user$ failed to pass MFA challenge 54 60 90
The Risk Score is calculated by the following formula: Risk Score = (Impact * Confidence/100). Initial Confidence and Impact is set by the analytic author.

References

Detection Testing

Test Type Status Dataset Source Sourcetype
Validation ✅ Passing N/A N/A N/A
Unit ✅ Passing Dataset Azure AD azure:monitor:aad
Integration ✅ Passing Dataset Azure AD azure:monitor:aad

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: 4