Kerberos Pre-Authentication Flag Disabled in UserAccountControl

Original Source: [splunk source]
Name:Kerberos Pre-Authentication Flag Disabled in UserAccountControl
id:0cb847ee-9423-11ec-b2df-acde48001122
version:4
date:2024-09-30
author:Mauricio Velazco, Splunk
status:production
type:TTP
Description:The following analytic detects when the Kerberos Pre-Authentication flag is disabled in a user account, using Windows Security Event 4738. This event indicates a change in the UserAccountControl property of a domain user object. Disabling this flag allows adversaries to perform offline brute force attacks on the user's password using the AS-REP Roasting technique. This activity is significant as it can be used by attackers with existing privileges to escalate their access or maintain persistence. If confirmed malicious, this could lead to unauthorized access and potential compromise of sensitive information.
Data_source:
  • -Windows Event Log Security 4738
search:`wineventlog_security` EventCode=4738 MSADChangedAttributes="*Don't Require Preauth' - Enabled*" |rename Account_Name as user
| table EventCode, user, dest, Security_ID, MSADChangedAttributes
| `kerberos_pre_authentication_flag_disabled_in_useraccountcontrol_filter`


how_to_implement:To successfully implement this search, you need to be ingesting Domain Controller events. The Advanced Security Audit policy setting `User Account Management` within `Account Management` needs to be enabled.
known_false_positives:Unknown.
References:
  -https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-server/identity/useraccountcontrol-manipulate-account-properties
  -https://m0chan.github.io/2019/07/31/How-To-Attack-Kerberos-101.html
  -https://stealthbits.com/blog/cracking-active-directory-passwords-with-as-rep-roasting/
drilldown_searches:
name:'View the detection results for - "$user$"'
search:'%original_detection_search% | search user = "$user$"'
earliest_offset:'$info_min_time$'
latest_offset:'$info_max_time$'
name:'View risk events for the last 7 days for - "$user$"'
search:'| from datamodel Risk.All_Risk | search normalized_risk_object IN ("$user$") starthoursago=168 | stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime values(search_name) as "Search Name" values(risk_message) as "Risk Message" values(analyticstories) as "Analytic Stories" values(annotations._all) as "Annotations" values(annotations.mitre_attack.mitre_tactic) as "ATT&CK Tactics" by normalized_risk_object | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`'
earliest_offset:'$info_min_time$'
latest_offset:'$info_max_time$'
tags:
  analytic_story:
    - 'Active Directory Kerberos Attacks'
    - 'BlackSuit Ransomware'
  asset_type:Endpoint
  confidence:90
  impact:50
  message:Kerberos Pre Authentication was Disabled for $user$
  mitre_attack_id:
    - 'T1558'
    - 'T1558.004'
  observable:
    name:'user'
    type:'User'
    - role:
      - 'Victim'
  product:
    - 'Splunk Enterprise'
    - 'Splunk Enterprise Security'
    - 'Splunk Cloud'
  required_fields:
    - '_time'
    - 'EventCode'
    - 'Account_Name'
    - 'Security_ID'
    - 'MSADChangedAttributes'
  risk_score:45
  security_domain:endpoint

tests:
name:'True Positive Test'
 attack_data:
  data: https://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/attack_techniques/T1558.004/powershell/windows-security.log
  source: WinEventLog:Security
  sourcetype: WinEventLog
  update_timestamp: True
manual_test:None