Windows Admin Password Changed by Non-Admin

 Original Source: [splunk source]
Name:Windows Admin Password Changed by Non-Admin
id:6d4c4d88-cd60-43a1-8c70-c74a9614f724
version:2
date:None
author:Raven Tait, Splunk
status:production
type:TTP
Description:The following analytic detects when a unprivileged user changes an Admin accounts password. This is a common artifact of successful exploitation of the BlueHammer Windows Defender privilege escalation. The attacker's process momentarily changes the passwords of high-value local accounts including the built-in Administrator to spawn an authenticated shell session, then immediately reverts the passwords to avoid detection. This uses EventID 4723 to log this activity.
Data_source:
  • -Windows Event Log Security 4723
search:`wineventlog_security`
EventCode=4723
TargetSid IN (
"*500*",
"*512*",
"*513*",
"*518*",
"*519*",
"*520*"
)

| rex field=TargetSid "-(?<target_rid>\d+)$"
| rex field=SubjectUserSid "-(?<subject_rid>\d+)$"

| where tonumber(target_rid)=500 OR tonumber(target_rid) IN (512,513,518,519,520)
| where tonumber(subject_rid) >= 1000
| where subject_rid != target_rid

| stats count min(_time) as firstTime
max(_time) as lastTime

by dest TargetSid EventCode SubjectUserSid src_user TargetUserName

| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
| `windows_admin_password_changed_by_non_admin_filter`


how_to_implement:The detection is based on data that originates from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents. These agents are designed to provide security-related telemetry from the endpoints where the agent is installed. To implement this search, you must ingest logs that contain the process GUID, process name, and parent process. Additionally, you must ingest complete command-line executions. These logs must be processed using the appropriate Splunk Technology Add-ons that are specific to the EDR product. The logs must also be mapped to the `Processes` node of the `Endpoint` data model. Use the Splunk Common Information Model (CIM) to normalize the field names and speed up the data modeling process.
known_false_positives:Some IT support tools or automated scripts may change administrator passwords during maintenance. Verify changes against authorized administrative activities to reduce false alerts.
References:
  -https://github.com/Nightmare-Eclipse/BlueHammer
drilldown_searches:
 earliest_offset:'$info_min_time$'
 latest_offset:'$info_max_time$'
 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)`'
analytic_story:['Windows Privilege Escalation', 'BlueHammer']

asset_type:Endpoint

mitre_attack_id:['T1068', 'T1543.003']

product:['Splunk Enterprise', 'Splunk Enterprise Security', 'Splunk Cloud']

category:endpoint

security_domain:endpoint

tags:

tests:
 name:'True Positive Test'
 attack_data:
  data: https://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/attack_techniques/T1068/bluehammer/windows-security.log
  source: XmlWinEventLog:Security
  sourcetype: XmlWinEventLog
 test_type:'unit'
manual_test:None