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Description

The following analytic detects the creation of a new Group Policy Object (GPO) using Splunk's Admon data. It identifies events where a new GPO is created, excluding default "New Group Policy Object" entries. Monitoring GPO creation is crucial as adversaries can exploit GPOs to escalate privileges or deploy malware across an Active Directory network. If confirmed malicious, this activity could allow attackers to control system configurations, deploy ransomware, or propagate malware, significantly compromising the network's security.

  • Type: TTP

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

  • Last Updated: 2024-05-20
  • Author: Mauricio Velazco, Splunk
  • ID: 69201633-30d9-48ef-b1b6-e680805f0582

Annotations

ATT&CK

ATT&CK

ID Technique Tactic
T1484 Domain or Tenant Policy Modification Defense Evasion, Privilege Escalation
T1484.001 Group Policy Modification Defense Evasion, Privilege Escalation
Kill Chain Phase
  • Exploitation
NIST
  • DE.CM
CIS20
  • CIS 10
CVE 


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 `admon` admonEventType=Update objectCategory="CN=Group-Policy-Container,CN=Schema,CN=Configuration,DC=*" versionNumber=0 displayName!="New Group Policy Object" 
| stats min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime values(gPCFileSysPath) by dcName, displayName 
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` 
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` 
| `windows_admon_group_policy_object_created_filter`

Macros

The SPL above uses the following Macros:

:information_source: windows_admon_group_policy_object_created_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
  • admonEventType
  • objectCategory
  • displayName
  • gPCFileSysPath
  • dcName

How To Implement

To successfully implement this search, you need to be monitoring Active Directory logs using Admon. Details can be found here https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/SplunkCloud/8.1.2101/Data/MonitorActiveDirectory

Known False Positives

Group Policy Objects are created as part of regular administrative operations, filter as needed.

Associated Analytic Story

RBA

Risk Score Impact Confidence Message
50.0 100 50 A new group policy objected was created on $dcName$

: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