Detection rules › YARA-L

Windows Short Term Account Use

Severity
medium
Type
alert
Time window
4h
Match by
targetUser
Source
github.com/chronicle/detection-rules

Detects the creation, login, and deletion of a user account over a predefined timeframe

Event coverage

Rule body yaral

/*
 * Copyright 2023 Google LLC
 *
 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
 *
 *     https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 *
 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 * limitations under the License.
 */

rule win_short_term_account_use {

  meta:
    author = "Google Cloud Security"
    description = "Detects the creation, login, and deletion of a user account over a predefined timeframe"
    rule_id = "mr_ac28ce76-8197-4354-af0d-d77c5771d9df"
    rule_name = "Windows Short Term Account Use"
    type = "alert"
    platform = "windows"
    data_source = "microsoft windows events"
    severity = "Medium"
    priority = "Medium"

  events:
    $create.metadata.event_type = "USER_CREATION"
    $create.target.user.userid = $targetUser

    $create.metadata.event_timestamp.seconds < $login.metadata.event_timestamp.seconds

    $login.metadata.event_type = "USER_LOGIN"
    //Focus is on Windows login events with this event code but could be modified for other platforms as well
    $login.metadata.product_event_type = "4624"
    $login.target.user.userid = $targetUser

    $login.metadata.event_timestamp.seconds < $delete.metadata.event_timestamp.seconds

    $delete.metadata.event_type = "USER_DELETION"
    $delete.target.user.userid = $targetUser

  match:
    $targetUser over 4h

  outcome:
    $risk_score = 65
    $event_count = count_distinct($login.metadata.id)
    // added to populate alert graph with additional context
    $principal_hostname = array_distinct($login.principal.hostname)
    $src_hostname = array_distinct($login.src.hostname)
    $src_ip = array_distinct($login.src.ip)
    $principal_user_userid = array_distinct($login.principal.user.userid)
    $principal_user_employee_id = array_distinct($login.principal.user.employee_id)
    // principal_process_id for each of the three types of events
    $user_creation_process_id = array_distinct($create.principal.process.pid)
    $user_login_process_id = array_distinct($login.principal.process.pid)
    $user_deletion_process_id = array_distinct($delete.principal.process.pid)
    $target_process_file_full_path = array_distinct($login.target.process.file.full_path)
    // Commented out target.user.userid because it is already represented in graph as match variable. If match changes, can uncomment to add to results
    //$target_user_userid = array_distinct($login.target.user.userid)
    $principal_resource_name = array_distinct($login.principal.resource.name)
    $target_resource_name = array_distinct($login.target.resource.name)
    $target_url = array_distinct($login.target.url)

  condition:
    $create and $login and $delete

}

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: match + condition

match:
    $targetUser over 4h
condition:
    $create and $login and $delete

Fires when at least one $create event in the 4h window and at least one $login event in the 4h window and at least one $delete event in the 4h window.

Stage 1: events: $create · USER_CREATION ordered before $login

$create.metadata.event_type = "USER_CREATION"
$create.target.user.userid = $targetUser

$create.metadata.event_timestamp.seconds < $login.metadata.event_timestamp.seconds

Stage 2: events: $login · USER_LOGIN ordered before $delete ordered after $create

$create.metadata.event_timestamp.seconds < $login.metadata.event_timestamp.seconds

$login.metadata.event_type = "USER_LOGIN"
$login.metadata.product_event_type = "4624"
$login.target.user.userid = $targetUser

$login.metadata.event_timestamp.seconds < $delete.metadata.event_timestamp.seconds

Stage 3: events: $delete · USER_DELETION ordered after $login

$login.metadata.event_timestamp.seconds < $delete.metadata.event_timestamp.seconds

$delete.metadata.event_type = "USER_DELETION"
$delete.target.user.userid = $targetUser

Indicators

Each row is a field, operator, and value that the rule matches. The corpus column counts how many other rules in the catalog look for the same combination: high numbers point to widely-used, community-vetted indicators. Blank or 1 shows that the indicator is specific to this rule.

FieldKindValues
metadata.product_event_typeeq
  • 4624 corpus 26 (splunk 13, kusto 9, chronicle 4)

Output fields

Fields the rule emits when it matches. Chronicle authors list these in the outcome block; they appear on the detection and $risk_score drives alerting. Sentinel / Defender XDR rules build them up through project / summarize / extend stages. Sentinel maps these into alert fields via entityMappings and customDetails; Defender XDR custom detections surface them as alert fields directly.

FieldSource
risk_score65
event_countcount_distinct($login.metadata.id)
principal_hostnamearray_distinct($login.principal.hostname)
src_hostnamearray_distinct($login.src.hostname)
src_iparray_distinct($login.src.ip)
principal_user_useridarray_distinct($login.principal.user.userid)
principal_user_employee_idarray_distinct($login.principal.user.employee_id)
user_creation_process_idarray_distinct($create.principal.process.pid)
user_login_process_idarray_distinct($login.principal.process.pid)
user_deletion_process_idarray_distinct($delete.principal.process.pid)
target_process_file_full_patharray_distinct($login.target.process.file.full_path)
principal_resource_namearray_distinct($login.principal.resource.name)
target_resource_namearray_distinct($login.target.resource.name)
target_urlarray_distinct($login.target.url)