Name:Windows AD Domain Controller Audit Policy Disabled id:fc3ccef1-60a4-4239-bd66-b279511b4d14 version:3 date:2024-09-30 author:Dean Luxton status:production type:TTP Description:The following analytic detects the disabling of audit policies on a domain controller. It leverages EventCode 4719 from Windows Security Event Logs to identify changes where success or failure auditing is removed. This activity is significant as it suggests an attacker may have gained access to the domain controller and is attempting to evade detection by tampering with audit policies. If confirmed malicious, this could lead to severe consequences, including data theft, privilege escalation, and full network compromise. Immediate investigation is required to determine the source and intent of the change. Data_source:
-Windows Event Log Security 4719
search:`wineventlog_security` EventCode=4719 (AuditPolicyChanges IN ("%%8448","%%8450","%%8448, %%8450") OR Changes IN ("Failure removed","Success removed","Success removed, Failure removed")) dest_category="domain_controller"| replace "%%8448" with "Success removed", "%%8450" with "Failure removed", "%%8448, %%8450" with "Success removed, Failure removed" in AuditPolicyChanges | eval AuditPolicyChanges=coalesce(AuditPolicyChanges,Changes), SubcategoryGuid=coalesce(SubcategoryGuid,Subcategory_GUID) | stats min(_time) as _time values(host) as dest by AuditPolicyChanges SubcategoryGuid | lookup advanced_audit_policy_guids GUID as SubcategoryGuid OUTPUT Category SubCategory | `windows_ad_domain_controller_audit_policy_disabled_filter`
how_to_implement:Ensure you are ingesting EventCode `4719` from your domain controllers, the category domain_controller exists in assets and identities, and that assets and identities is enabled. If A&I is not configured, you will need to manually filter the results within the base search. known_false_positives:Unknown References: -https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/auditing/event-4719 drilldown_searches: name:'View the detection results for - "$dest$"' search:'%original_detection_search% | search dest = "$dest$"' earliest_offset:'$info_min_time$' latest_offset:'$info_max_time$' name:'View risk events for the last 7 days for - "$dest$"' search:'| from datamodel Risk.All_Risk | search normalized_risk_object IN ("$dest$") 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: - 'Sneaky Active Directory Persistence Tricks' asset_type:Endpoint confidence:60 impact:100 message:GPO $SubCategory$ of $Category$ was disabled on $dest$ mitre_attack_id: - 'T1562.001' observable: name:'dest' type:'Hostname' - role: - 'Victim' product: - 'Splunk Enterprise' - 'Splunk Enterprise Security' - 'Splunk Cloud' required_fields: - '_time' - 'EventCode' - 'AuditPolicyChanges' - 'SubcategoryGuid' risk_score:60 security_domain:endpoint manual_test:This search uses a lookup provided by Enterprise Security and needs to be manually tested
