Detection: Windows Special Privileged Logon On Multiple Hosts

Updated Date: 2025-05-02 ID: 4c461f5a-c2cc-4e86-b132-c262fc9edca7 Author: Mauricio Velazco, Splunk Type: TTP Product: Splunk Enterprise Security

Description

The following analytic detects a user authenticating with special privileges on 30 or more remote endpoints within a 5-minute window. It leverages Event ID 4672 from Windows Security logs to identify this behavior. This activity is significant as it may indicate lateral movement or remote code execution by an adversary. If confirmed malicious, the attacker could gain extensive control over the network, potentially leading to privilege escalation, data exfiltration, or further compromise of the environment. Security teams should adjust detection thresholds based on their specific environment.

Search

1`wineventlog_security` EventCode=4672 AND NOT(Caller_User_Name IN ("DWM-1","DWM-2","DWM-3","LOCAL SERVICE","NETWORK SERVICE","SYSTEM","*$")) 
2| bucket span=5m _time 
3| stats dc(Computer) AS unique_targets values(Computer) as dest values(PrivilegeList) as privileges by _time, Caller_User_Name 
4| rename Caller_User_Name as user
5| where unique_targets > 30 
6| `windows_special_privileged_logon_on_multiple_hosts_filter`

Data Source

Name	Platform	Sourcetype	Source
Windows Event Log Security 4672	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_special_privileged_logon_on_multiple_hosts_filter	`search *`

windows_special_privileged_logon_on_multiple_hosts_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
T1087	Account Discovery	Discovery
T1021.002	SMB/Windows Admin Shares	Lateral Movement
T1135	Network Share Discovery	Discovery

Exploitation

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 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

To successfully implement this search, you need to be ingesting special logon events. The Advanced Security Audit policy setting Audit Special Logon within Logon/Logoff need to be enabled.

Known False Positives

Vulnerability scanners or system administration tools may also trigger this detection. Filter as needed.

Associated Analytic Story

Risk Based Analytics (RBA)

Risk Message:

A user $user$ obtained special privileges on a large number of endpoints (Count: $unique_targets$) within 5 minutes.

Risk Object	Risk Object Type	Risk Score	Threat Objects
user	user	64	No Threat Objects

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: 8