---
title: "Active Directory Kerberos Attacks"
last_modified_at: 2022-02-02
toc: true
toc_label: ""
tags:
  - Splunk Enterprise
  - Splunk Enterprise Security
  - Splunk Cloud
  - Endpoint
---

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#### Description

Monitor for activities and techniques associated with Kerberos based attacks within with Active Directory environments.

- **Product**: Splunk Enterprise, Splunk Enterprise Security, Splunk Cloud
- **Datamodel**: [Endpoint](https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/CIM/latest/User/Endpoint)
- **Last Updated**: 2022-02-02
- **Author**: Mauricio Velazco, Splunk
- **ID**: 38b8cf16-8461-11ec-ade1-acde48001122

#### Narrative

Kerberos, initially named after Cerberus, the three-headed dog in Greek mythology, is a network authentication protocol that allows computers and users to prove their identity through a trusted third-party. This trusted third-party issues Kerberos tickets using symmetric encryption to allow users access to services and network resources based on their privilege level. Kerberos is the default authentication protocol used on Windows Active Directory networks since the introduction of Windows Server 2003. With Kerberos being the backbone of Windows authentication, it is commonly abused by adversaries across the different phases of a breach including initial access, privilege escalation, defense evasion, credential access, lateral movement, etc.\ This Analytic Story groups detection use cases in which the Kerberos protocol is abused. Defenders can leverage these analytics to detect and hunt for adversaries engaging in Kerberos based attacks.

#### Detections

| Name        | Technique   | Type         |
| ----------- | ----------- |--------------|
| [Disabled Kerberos Pre-Authentication Discovery With Get-ADUser](/endpoint/disabled_kerberos_pre-authentication_discovery_with_get-aduser/) | [Steal or Forge Kerberos Tickets](/tags/#steal-or-forge-kerberos-tickets), [AS-REP Roasting](/tags/#as-rep-roasting) | TTP |
| [Disabled Kerberos Pre-Authentication Discovery With PowerView](/endpoint/disabled_kerberos_pre-authentication_discovery_with_powerview/) | [Steal or Forge Kerberos Tickets](/tags/#steal-or-forge-kerberos-tickets), [AS-REP Roasting](/tags/#as-rep-roasting) | TTP |
| [Kerberoasting spn request with RC4 encryption](/endpoint/kerberoasting_spn_request_with_rc4_encryption/) | [Steal or Forge Kerberos Tickets](/tags/#steal-or-forge-kerberos-tickets), [Kerberoasting](/tags/#kerberoasting) | TTP |
| [Kerberos Pre-Authentication Flag Disabled in UserAccountControl](/endpoint/kerberos_pre-authentication_flag_disabled_in_useraccountcontrol/) | [Steal or Forge Kerberos Tickets](/tags/#steal-or-forge-kerberos-tickets), [AS-REP Roasting](/tags/#as-rep-roasting) | TTP |
| [Kerberos Pre-Authentication Flag Disabled with PowerShell](/endpoint/kerberos_pre-authentication_flag_disabled_with_powershell/) | [Steal or Forge Kerberos Tickets](/tags/#steal-or-forge-kerberos-tickets), [AS-REP Roasting](/tags/#as-rep-roasting) | TTP |
| [Mimikatz PassTheTicket CommandLine Parameters](/endpoint/mimikatz_passtheticket_commandline_parameters/) | [Use Alternate Authentication Material](/tags/#use-alternate-authentication-material), [Pass the Ticket](/tags/#pass-the-ticket) | TTP |
| [Multiple Disabled Users Failing To Authenticate From Host Using Kerberos](/endpoint/multiple_disabled_users_failing_to_authenticate_from_host_using_kerberos/) | [Password Spraying](/tags/#password-spraying), [Brute Force](/tags/#brute-force) | Anomaly |
| [Multiple Invalid Users Failing To Authenticate From Host Using Kerberos](/endpoint/multiple_invalid_users_failing_to_authenticate_from_host_using_kerberos/) | [Password Spraying](/tags/#password-spraying), [Brute Force](/tags/#brute-force) | Anomaly |
| [Multiple Users Failing To Authenticate From Host Using Kerberos](/endpoint/multiple_users_failing_to_authenticate_from_host_using_kerberos/) | [Password Spraying](/tags/#password-spraying), [Brute Force](/tags/#brute-force) | Anomaly |
| [Rubeus Command Line Parameters](/endpoint/rubeus_command_line_parameters/) | [Use Alternate Authentication Material](/tags/#use-alternate-authentication-material), [Pass the Ticket](/tags/#pass-the-ticket), [Steal or Forge Kerberos Tickets](/tags/#steal-or-forge-kerberos-tickets), [Kerberoasting](/tags/#kerberoasting), [AS-REP Roasting](/tags/#as-rep-roasting) | TTP |
| [Rubeus Kerberos Ticket Exports Through Winlogon Access](/endpoint/rubeus_kerberos_ticket_exports_through_winlogon_access/) | [Use Alternate Authentication Material](/tags/#use-alternate-authentication-material), [Pass the Ticket](/tags/#pass-the-ticket) | TTP |
| [ServicePrincipalNames Discovery with PowerShell](/endpoint/serviceprincipalnames_discovery_with_powershell/) | [Kerberoasting](/tags/#kerberoasting) | TTP |
| [ServicePrincipalNames Discovery with SetSPN](/endpoint/serviceprincipalnames_discovery_with_setspn/) | [Kerberoasting](/tags/#kerberoasting) | TTP |
| [Unusual Number of Kerberos Service Tickets Requested](/endpoint/unusual_number_of_kerberos_service_tickets_requested/) | [Steal or Forge Kerberos Tickets](/tags/#steal-or-forge-kerberos-tickets), [Kerberoasting](/tags/#kerberoasting) | Anomaly |

#### Reference

* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerberos_(protocol)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerberos_(protocol))
* [https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/openspecs/windows_protocols/ms-kile/2a32282e-dd48-4ad9-a542-609804b02cc9](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/openspecs/windows_protocols/ms-kile/2a32282e-dd48-4ad9-a542-609804b02cc9)
* [https://m0chan.github.io/2019/07/31/How-To-Attack-Kerberos-101.html](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/](https://stealthbits.com/blog/cracking-active-directory-passwords-with-as-rep-roasting/)
* [https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1558/003/](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1558/003/)
* [https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1550/003/](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1550/003/)
* [https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1558/004/](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1558/004/)



[*source*](https://github.com/splunk/security_content/tree/develop/stories/active_directory_kerberos_attacks.yml) \| *version*: **1**