Detection: Windows Non-System Account Targeting Lsass

Description

The following analytic identifies non-SYSTEM accounts requesting access to lsass.exe. This detection leverages Sysmon EventCode 10 logs to monitor access attempts to the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (lsass.exe) by non-SYSTEM users. This activity is significant as it may indicate credential dumping attempts or unauthorized access to sensitive credentials. If confirmed malicious, an attacker could potentially extract credentials from memory, leading to privilege escalation or lateral movement within the network. Immediate investigation is required to determine the legitimacy of the access request and to mitigate any potential threats.

1`sysmon` EventCode=10 TargetImage=*lsass.exe NOT (SourceUser="NT AUTHORITY\\*") 
2| stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime by dest, parent_process_name, parent_process_path ,parent_process_id, TargetImage, GrantedAccess, SourceUser, TargetUser 
3| rename TargetUser as user 
4| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
5| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` 
6| `windows_non_system_account_targeting_lsass_filter`

Data Source

Name Platform Sourcetype Source
Sysmon EventID 10 Windows icon Windows 'xmlwineventlog' 'XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational'

Macros Used

Name Value
security_content_ctime convert timeformat="%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S" ctime($field$)
windows_non_system_account_targeting_lsass_filter search *
windows_non_system_account_targeting_lsass_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
T1003.001 LSASS Memory Credential Access
T1003 OS Credential Dumping Credential Access
KillChainPhase.EXPLOITAITON
NistCategory.DE_CM
Cis18Value.CIS_10
APT1
APT28
APT3
APT32
APT33
APT39
APT41
APT5
Agrius
Aquatic Panda
BRONZE BUTLER
Blue Mockingbird
Cleaver
Earth Lusca
Ember Bear
FIN13
FIN6
FIN8
Fox Kitten
GALLIUM
HAFNIUM
Indrik Spider
Ke3chang
Kimsuky
Leafminer
Leviathan
Magic Hound
Moonstone Sleet
MuddyWater
OilRig
PLATINUM
Play
RedCurl
Sandworm Team
Silence
Threat Group-3390
Volt Typhoon
Whitefly
Wizard Spider
APT28
APT32
APT39
Axiom
Ember Bear
Leviathan
Poseidon Group
Sowbug
Suckfly
Tonto Team

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 logs with the process name, parent process, and command-line executions from your endpoints. If you are using Sysmon, you must have at least version 6.0.4 of the Sysmon TA. Enabling EventCode 10 TargetProcess lsass.exe is required.

Known False Positives

False positives will occur based on legitimate application requests, filter based on source image as needed.

Associated Analytic Story

Risk Based Analytics (RBA)

Risk Message Risk Score Impact Confidence
A process, $parent_process_path$, has loaded $TargetImage$ that are typically related to credential dumping on $dest$. Review for further details. 64 80 80
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-Sysmon/Operational XmlWinEventLog
Integration ✅ Passing Dataset XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/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: 5