:no_entry: THIS IS A DEPRECATED DETECTION

This detection has been marked deprecated by the Splunk Threat Research team. This means that it will no longer be maintained or supported.

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Description

This search looks for specific authentication events from the Windows Security Event logs to detect potential attempts at using the Pass-the-Hash technique. This search is DEPRECATED as it is possible for event code 4624 to generate a high level of noise, as legitimate logon events may also trigger this event code. This can be especially true in environments with high levels of user activity, such as those with many concurrent logons or frequent logon attempts.

  • Type: Hunting

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

  • Last Updated: 2020-10-15
  • Author: Bhavin Patel, Patrick Bareiss, Splunk
  • ID: f5939373-8054-40ad-8c64-cec478a22a4b

Annotations

ATT&CK

ATT&CK

ID Technique Tactic
T1550 Use Alternate Authentication Material Defense Evasion, Lateral Movement
T1550.002 Pass the Hash Defense Evasion, Lateral Movement
Kill Chain Phase
  • Exploitation
NIST
  • DE.AE
CIS20
  • CIS 10
CVE 


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`wineventlog_security` EventCode=4624 (Logon_Type=3 Logon_Process=NtLmSsp NOT AccountName="ANONYMOUS LOGON") OR (Logon_Type=9 Logon_Process=seclogo) 
| fillnull 
| stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime by EventCode, Logon_Type, WorkstationName, user, dest 
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` 
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` 
| `detect_activity_related_to_pass_the_hash_attacks_filter`

Macros

The SPL above uses the following Macros:

:information_source: detect_activity_related_to_pass_the_hash_attacks_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
  • Logon_Type
  • Logon_Process
  • WorkstationName
  • user
  • dest

How To Implement

To successfully implement this search, you must ingest your Windows Security Event logs and leverage the latest TA for Windows.

Known False Positives

Legitimate logon activity by authorized NTLM systems may be detected by this search. Please investigate as appropriate.

Associated Analytic Story

RBA

Risk Score Impact Confidence Message
49.0 70 70 The following $EventCode$ occurred on $dest$ by $user$ with Logon Type 3, which may be indicative of the pass the hash technique.

: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: 6