Try in Splunk Security Cloud

Description

The following analytic detects the creation of new accounts elevated to local administrators. It uses Windows event logs, specifically EventCode 4720 (user account creation) and EventCode 4732 (user added to Administrators group). This activity is significant as it indicates potential unauthorized privilege escalation, which is critical for SOC monitoring. If confirmed malicious, this could allow attackers to gain administrative access, leading to unauthorized data access, system modifications, and disruption of services. Immediate investigation is required to mitigate risks and prevent further unauthorized actions.

  • Type: TTP

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

  • Last Updated: 2024-05-15
  • Author: David Dorsey, Splunk
  • ID: b25f6f62-0712-43c1-b203-083231ffd97d

Annotations

ATT&CK

ATT&CK

ID Technique Tactic
T1136.001 Local Account Persistence
T1136 Create Account Persistence
Kill Chain Phase
  • Installation
NIST
  • DE.CM
CIS20
  • CIS 10
CVE 


1
2
3
4
5
6
7



`wineventlog_security` EventCode=4720 OR (EventCode=4732 Group_Name=Administrators) 
| transaction src_user connected=false maxspan=180m 
| rename src_user as user 
| stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime by user dest 
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` 
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` 
| `detect_new_local_admin_account_filter`

Macros

The SPL above uses the following Macros:

:information_source: detect_new_local_admin_account_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
  • EventCode
  • Group_Name
  • member_id
  • dest
  • user

How To Implement

You must be ingesting Windows event logs using the Splunk Windows TA and collecting event code 4720 and 4732

Known False Positives

The activity may be legitimate. For this reason, it's best to verify the account with an administrator and ask whether there was a valid service request for the account creation. If your local administrator group name is not "Administrators", this search may generate an excessive number of false positives

Associated Analytic Story

RBA

Risk Score Impact Confidence Message
42.0 60 70 A $user$ on $dest$ was added recently. Identify if this was legitimate behavior or not.

: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: 4