Detection: Windows PowerShell Export Certificate

Updated Date: 2024-09-30 ID: 5e38ded4-c964-41f4-8cb6-4a1a53c6929f Author: Michael Haag, Splunk Type: Anomaly Product: Splunk Enterprise Security

Description

The following analytic detects the use of the PowerShell Cmdlet export-certificate by leveraging Script Block Logging. This activity is significant as it may indicate an adversary attempting to exfiltrate certificates from the local Certificate Store on a Windows endpoint. Monitoring this behavior is crucial because stolen certificates can be used to impersonate users, decrypt sensitive data, or facilitate further attacks. If confirmed malicious, this activity could lead to unauthorized access to encrypted communications and sensitive information, posing a severe security risk.

Search

1`powershell` EventCode=4104 ScriptBlockText IN ("*export-certificate*") 
2| rename Computer as dest  
3| stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime by EventCode ScriptBlockText dest user_id 
4| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` 
5| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` 
6| `windows_powershell_export_certificate_filter`

Data Source

Name	Platform	Sourcetype	Source
Powershell Script Block Logging 4104	Windows	`'xmlwineventlog'`	`'XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-PowerShell/Operational'`

Macros Used

Name	Value
powershell	`(source=WinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-PowerShell/Operational OR source="XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-PowerShell/Operational")`
windows_powershell_export_certificate_filter	`search *`

windows_powershell_export_certificate_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
T1552.004	Private Keys	Credential Access
T1552	Unsecured Credentials	Credential Access
T1649	Steal or Forge Authentication Certificates	Credential Access

KillChainPhase.EXPLOITAITON

NistCategory.DE_AE

Cis18Value.CIS_10

Rocke

Scattered Spider

TeamTNT

Volt Typhoon

APT29

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 Risk Event	True

This configuration file applies to all detections of type anomaly. These detections will use Risk Based Alerting.

Implementation

To successfully implement this analytic, you will need to enable PowerShell Script Block Logging on some or all endpoints. Additional setup here https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/UBA/5.0.4.1/GetDataIn/AddPowerShell#Configure_module_logging_for_PowerShell.

Known False Positives

It is possible administrators or scripts may run these commands, filtering may be required.

Associated Analytic Story

Windows Certificate Services

Risk Based Analytics (RBA)

Risk Message	Risk Score	Impact	Confidence
A PowerShell Cmdlet related to exporting a Certificate was ran on $dest$, attempting to export a certificate.	36	60	60

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	`XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-PowerShell/Operational`	`XmlWinEventLog`
Integration	✅ Passing	Dataset	`XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-PowerShell/Operational`	`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: 3