ID | Technique | Tactic |
---|---|---|
T1078 | Valid Accounts | Defense Evasion |
T1078.002 | Domain Accounts | Initial Access |
Detection: Suspicious Ticket Granting Ticket Request
Description
The following analytic detects suspicious Kerberos Ticket Granting Ticket (TGT) requests that may indicate exploitation of CVE-2021-42278 and CVE-2021-42287. It leverages Event ID 4781 (account name change) and Event ID 4768 (TGT request) to identify sequences where a newly renamed computer account requests a TGT. This behavior is significant as it could represent an attempt to escalate privileges by impersonating a Domain Controller. If confirmed malicious, this activity could allow attackers to gain elevated access and potentially control over the domain environment.
Search
1`wineventlog_security` (EventCode=4781 OldTargetUserName="*$" NewTargetUserName!="*$") OR (EventCode=4768 TargetUserName!="*$")
2| eval RenamedComputerAccount = coalesce(NewTargetUserName, TargetUserName)
3| transaction RenamedComputerAccount startswith=(EventCode=4781) endswith=(EventCode=4768)
4| eval short_lived=case((duration<2),"TRUE")
5| search short_lived = TRUE
6| table _time, Computer, EventCode, TargetUserName, RenamedComputerAccount, short_lived
7| rename Computer as dest
8| `suspicious_ticket_granting_ticket_request_filter`
Data Source
Name | Platform | Sourcetype | Source |
---|---|---|---|
Windows Event Log Security 4768 | Windows | 'xmlwineventlog' |
'XmlWinEventLog:Security' |
Windows Event Log Security 4781 | Windows | 'xmlwineventlog' |
'XmlWinEventLog:Security' |
Macros Used
Name | Value |
---|---|
wineventlog_security | eventtype=wineventlog_security OR Channel=security OR source=XmlWinEventLog:Security |
suspicious_ticket_granting_ticket_request_filter | search * |
suspicious_ticket_granting_ticket_request_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 | False |
Implementation
To successfully implement this search, you need to be ingesting Domain Controller and Kerberos events. The Advanced Security Audit policy setting Audit Kerberos Authentication Service
within Account Logon
needs to be enabled.
Known False Positives
A computer account name change event inmediately followed by a kerberos TGT request with matching fields is unsual. However, legitimate behavior may trigger it. Filter as needed.
Associated Analytic Story
Risk Based Analytics (RBA)
Risk Message | Risk Score | Impact | Confidence |
---|---|---|---|
A suspicious TGT was requested was requested by $dest$ | 60 | 100 | 60 |
References
-
https://exploit.ph/cve-2021-42287-cve-2021-42278-weaponisation.html
-
https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2021-42278
-
https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2021-42287
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: 5