:warning: THIS IS A EXPERIMENTAL DETECTION

This detection has been marked experimental by the Splunk Threat Research team. This means we have not been able to test, simulate, or build datasets for this detection. Use at your own risk. This analytic is NOT supported.

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Description

The following analytic detects changes to computer accounts using an anonymous logon. It leverages Windows Security Event Codes 4742 (Computer Change) and 4624 (Successful Logon) with the TargetUserName set to "ANONYMOUS LOGON" and LogonType 3. This activity is significant because anonymous logons should not typically be modifying computer accounts, indicating potential unauthorized access or misconfiguration. If confirmed malicious, this could allow an attacker to alter computer accounts, potentially leading to privilege escalation or persistent access within the network.

  • Type: Hunting

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

  • Last Updated: 2024-05-18
  • Author: Rod Soto, Jose Hernandez, Splunk
  • ID: 1400624a-d42d-484d-8843-e6753e6e3645

Annotations

ATT&CK

ATT&CK

ID Technique Tactic
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Kill Chain Phase
  • Exploitation
NIST
  • DE.AE
CIS20
  • CIS 10
CVE 


1
2
3



`wineventlog_security` EventCode=4624 OR EventCode=4742 TargetUserName="ANONYMOUS LOGON" LogonType=3 
| stats count values(host) as host, values(TargetDomainName) as Domain, values(user) as user 
| `detect_computer_changed_with_anonymous_account_filter`

Macros

The SPL above uses the following Macros:

:information_source: detect_computer_changed_with_anonymous_account_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
  • EventCode
  • TargetUserName
  • LogonType
  • TargetDomainName
  • user

How To Implement

This search requires audit computer account management to be enabled on the system in order to generate Event ID 4742. We strongly recommend that you specify your environment-specific configurations (index, source, sourcetype, etc.) for Windows Event Logs. Replace the macro definition with configurations for your Splunk environment. The search also uses a post-filter macro designed to filter out known false positives.

Known False Positives

None thus far found

Associated Analytic Story

RBA

Risk Score Impact Confidence Message
49.0 70 70 The following $EventCode$ occurred on $dest$ by $user$ with Logon Type 3, which may be indicative of the an account or group being changed by an anonymous account.

: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