splunk-security_content/stories/active_directory_password_spraying.yml

name: Active Directory Password Spraying
id: 3de109da-97d2-11eb-8b6a-acde48001122
version: 1
date: '2021-04-07'
author: Mauricio Velazco, Splunk
description: Monitor for activities and techniques associated with Password Spraying
  attacks within Active Directory environments.
narrative: 'In a password spraying attack, adversaries leverage one or a small list
  of commonly used / popular passwords against a large volume of usernames to acquire
  valid account credentials. Unlike a Brute Force attack that targets a specific user
  or small group of users with a large number of passwords, password spraying follows
  the opposite aproach and increases the chances of obtaining valid credentials while
  avoiding account lockouts. This allows adversaries to remain undetected if the target
  organization does not have the proper monitoring and detection controls in place.\

  Password Spraying can be leveraged by adversaries across different stages in an
  attack. It can be used to obtain an iniial access to an environment but can also
  be used to escalate privileges when access has been already achieved. In some scenarios,
  this technique capitalizes on a security policy most organizations implement, password
  rotation. As enterprise users change their passwords, it is possible some pick predictable,
  seasonal passwords such as `$CompanyNameWinter`, `Summer2021`, etc.\

  Specifically, this Analytic Story is focused on detecting possible Password Spraying
  attacks against Active Directory environments leveraging Windows Event Logs in the
  `Account Logon` and `Logon/Logoff` Advanced Audit Policy categories. It presents
  9 detection analytics which can aid defenders in identifying instances where one
  source user, source host or source process attempts to authenticate against a target
  or targets using a high, unsual, number of unique users. A user, host or process
  attempting to authenticate with multiple users is not common behavior for legitimate
  systems and should be monitored by security teams. Possible false positive scenarios
  include but are not limited to vulnerability scanners, remote administration tools,
  multi-user systems and missconfigured systems. These should be easily spotted when
  first implementing the detection and addded to an allow list or lookup table. The
  presented detections can also be used in Threat Hunting exercises.'
references:
- https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1110/003/
- https://www.microsoft.com/security/blog/2020/04/23/protecting-organization-password-spray-attacks/
- https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-server-2012-r2-and-2012/dn452415(v=ws.11)
tags:
  analytic_story: Active Directory Password Spraying
  category:
  - Adversary Tactics
  product:
  - Splunk Enterprise
  - Splunk Enterprise Security
  - Splunk Cloud
  usecase: Advanced Threat Detection