GitHub Repo

Detection: Windows Credentials from Password Stores Chrome Login Data Access

Updated Date: 2026-07-08 ID: 0d32ba37-80fc-4429-809c-0ba15801aeaf Author: Teoderick Contreras, Splunk Type: Anomaly Product: Splunk Enterprise Security

Description

The following analytic identifies non-Chrome processes accessing the Chrome user data file "login data." This file is an SQLite database containing sensitive information, including saved passwords. The detection leverages Windows Security Event logs, specifically event code 4663, to monitor access attempts. This activity is significant as it may indicate attempts by threat actors to extract and decrypt stored passwords, posing a risk to user credentials. If confirmed malicious, attackers could gain unauthorized access to sensitive accounts and escalate their privileges within the environment.

 1`wineventlog_security`
 2EventCode=4663
 3object_file_path="*\\AppData\\Local\\Google\\Chrome\\User Data\\Default\\Login Data"
 4NOT process_path IN (
 5    "*:\\Windows\\explorer.exe",
 6    "*:\\Windows\\System32\\dllhost.exe",
 7    "*\\AppData\\Local\\Google\\Chrome Beta\\Application\\chrome.exe",
 8    "*\\AppData\\Local\\Google\\Chrome Dev\\Application\\chrome.exe",
 9    "*\\AppData\\Local\\Google\\Chrome SxS\\Application\\chrome.exe",
10    "*\\AppData\\Local\\Google\\Chrome Unstable\\Application\\chrome.exe",
11    "*\\AppData\\Local\\Google\\Chrome\\Application\\chrome.exe"
12)
13
14| stats count min(_time) as firstTime
15              max(_time) as lastTime
16
17  by object_file_name object_file_path
18     process_name process_path
19     process_id EventCode dest
20
21
22| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
23
24| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
25
26| `windows_credentials_from_password_stores_chrome_login_data_access_filter`

Data Source

Name Platform Sourcetype Source
Windows Event Log Security 4663 Windows icon Windows 'XmlWinEventLog' 'XmlWinEventLog:Security'

Macros Used

Name Value
wineventlog_security eventtype="wineventlog_security" OR Channel="security" OR source="XmlWinEventLog:Security" OR source="WinEventLog:Security"
windows_credentials_from_password_stores_chrome_login_data_access_filter search *
windows_credentials_from_password_stores_chrome_login_data_access_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
T1012 Query Registry Discovery
Exploitation
DE.AE
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) No
Creates Intermediate Finding (Risk Event) Yes
Anomaly detections generate Intermediate Findings (Risk Events). They do not generate a Finding (Notable) directly.

Implementation

To successfully implement this search, you must ingest Windows Security Event logs and track event code 4663. For 4663, enable "Audit Object Access" in Group Policy. Then check the two boxes listed for both "Success" and "Failure."

Known False Positives

The chrome uninstaller will access these set of files and folders. Filter as needed.

Associated Analytic Story

Intermediate Findings

Message Entity Field Entity Type Risk Score
A non-chrome process $process_name$ accessing Chrome "Login Data" file on $dest$ dest system 20

References

Detection Testing

Test Type Status Dataset Source Sourcetype
Validation ✅ Passing N/A N/A N/A
Unit ✅ Passing Dataset XmlWinEventLog:Security XmlWinEventLog
Integration ✅ Passing Dataset XmlWinEventLog:Security XmlWinEventLog

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: 23