Try in Splunk Security Cloud

Description

The following analytic identifies a source endpoint failing to authenticate with multiple invalid domain users using the Kerberos protocol. It leverages Event ID 4768, which is generated when the Key Distribution Center issues a Kerberos Ticket Granting Ticket (TGT) and detects failure code 0x6, indicating the user is not found in the Kerberos database. This behavior is significant as it may indicate a Password Spraying attack, where an adversary attempts to gain initial access or elevate privileges. If confirmed malicious, this activity could lead to unauthorized access and potential privilege escalation within the Active Directory environment.

  • Type: Anomaly

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

  • Last Updated: 2024-05-31
  • Author: Mauricio Velazco, Splunk
  • ID: f122cb2e-d773-4f11-8399-62a3572d8dd7

Annotations

ATT&CK

ATT&CK

ID Technique Tactic
T1110.003 Password Spraying Credential Access
T1110 Brute Force Credential Access
Kill Chain Phase
  • Exploitation
NIST
  • DE.AE
CIS20
  • CIS 10
CVE 


1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8



`wineventlog_security` EventCode=4768 TargetUserName!=*$ Status=0x6 
| bucket span=5m _time 
| stats dc(TargetUserName) AS unique_accounts values(TargetUserName) as user by _time, IpAddress 
| eventstats avg(unique_accounts) as comp_avg , stdev(unique_accounts) as comp_std by IpAddress 
| eval upperBound=(comp_avg+comp_std*3) 
| eval isOutlier=if(unique_accounts > 10 and unique_accounts >= upperBound, 1, 0) 
| search isOutlier=1 
| `windows_unusual_count_of_invalid_users_fail_to_auth_using_kerberos_filter`

Macros

The SPL above uses the following Macros:

:information_source: windows_unusual_count_of_invalid_users_fail_to_auth_using_kerberos_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
  • Status
  • TargetUserName
  • IpAddress

How To Implement

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 host failing to authenticate with multiple invalid domain users is not a common behavior for legitimate systems. Possible false positive scenarios include but are not limited to vulnerability scanners, multi-user systems and missconfigured systems.

Associated Analytic Story

RBA

Risk Score Impact Confidence Message
49.0 70 70 Potential Kerberos based password spraying attack from $IpAddress$

: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: 2