ID | Technique | Tactic |
---|---|---|
T1649 | Steal or Forge Authentication Certificates | Credential Access |
Detection: Windows Steal Authentication Certificates CS Backup
Description
The following analytic identifies the backup of the Active Directory Certificate Services (AD CS) store, detected via Event ID 4876. This event is logged when a backup is performed using the CertSrv.msc UI or the CertUtil.exe -BackupDB command. Monitoring this activity is crucial as unauthorized backups can indicate an attempt to steal authentication certificates, which are critical for secure communications. If confirmed malicious, this activity could allow an attacker to impersonate users, escalate privileges, or access sensitive information, severely compromising the security of the environment.
Search
1`wineventlog_security` EventCode=4876
2| stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime by dest, name, action, Caller_Domain ,Caller_User_Name
3| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
4| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
5| `windows_steal_authentication_certificates_cs_backup_filter`
Data Source
Name | Platform | Sourcetype | Source | Supported App |
---|---|---|---|---|
Windows Event Log Security 4876 | Windows | 'xmlwineventlog' |
'XmlWinEventLog:Security' |
N/A |
Macros Used
Name | Value |
---|---|
security_content_ctime | convert timeformat="%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S" ctime($field$) |
windows_steal_authentication_certificates_cs_backup_filter | search * |
windows_steal_authentication_certificates_cs_backup_filter
is an empty macro by default. It allows the user to filter out any results (false positives) without editing the SPL.
Annotations
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 |
Implementation
To implement this analytic, enhanced Audit Logging must be enabled on AD CS and within Group Policy Management for CS server. See Page 128 of first reference.
Known False Positives
False positives will be generated based on normal certificate store backups. Leave enabled to generate Risk, as this is meant to be an anomaly analytic. If CS backups are not normal, enable as TTP.
Associated Analytic Story
Risk Based Analytics (RBA)
Risk Message | Risk Score | Impact | Confidence |
---|---|---|---|
The Active Directory Certiciate Services was backed up on $dest$. | 40 | 50 | 80 |
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: 2