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Description

The following analytic identifies an attempt to disable multi-factor authentication for an Okta user. An adversary who has obtained access to an Okta tenant may disable multi-factor authentication as a way to plant a backdoor and maintain persistence using a valid account. This way the attackers can keep persistance in the environment without adding new users.

  • Type: TTP
  • Product: Splunk Enterprise, Splunk Enterprise Security, Splunk Cloud
  • Datamodel: Change
  • Last Updated: 2024-03-11
  • Author: Mauricio Velazco, Splunk
  • ID: 7c0348ce-bdf9-45f6-8a57-c18b5976f00a

Annotations

ATT&CK

ATT&CK

ID Technique Tactic
T1556 Modify Authentication Process Credential Access, Defense Evasion, Persistence
T1556.006 Multi-Factor Authentication Credential Access, Defense Evasion, Persistence
Kill Chain Phase
  • Exploitation
  • Installation
NIST
  • DE.CM
CIS20
  • CIS 10
CVE 


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| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count max(_time) as lastTime, min(_time) as firstTime from datamodel=Change where sourcetype="OktaIM2:log" All_Changes.object_category=User AND All_Changes.action=modified All_Changes.command=user.mfa.factor.deactivate by All_Changes.user All_Changes.result All_Changes.command sourcetype All_Changes.src 
| `drop_dm_object_name("All_Changes")` 
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` 
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` 
| `okta_multi_factor_authentication_disabled_filter`

Macros

The SPL above uses the following Macros:

:information_source: okta_multi-factor_authentication_disabled_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
  • All_Changes.object_category
  • All_Changes.action
  • All_Changes.command
  • All_Changes.user
  • All_Changes.result
  • All_Changes.src
  • sourcetype

How To Implement

The analytic leverages Okta OktaIm2 logs to be ingested using the Splunk Add-on for Okta Identity Cloud (https://splunkbase.splunk.com/app/6553).

Known False Positives

Legitimate use case may require for users to disable MFA. Filter lightly and monitor for any unusual activity.

Associated Analytic Story

RBA

Risk Score Impact Confidence Message
30.0 50 60 MFA was disabled for User [$user$] initiated by [$src$]. Investigate further to determine if this was authorized.

: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

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