Detection rules › Kusto

Email access via active sync

Severity
medium
Time window
1d
Author
Microsoft Security Research
Source
github.com/Azure/Azure-Sentinel

This query detects attempts to add attacker devices as allowed IDs for active sync using the Set-CASMailbox command. This technique was seen in relation to Solorigate attack but the results can indicate potential malicious activity used in different attacks. - Note that this query can be changed to use the KQL "has_all" operator, which hasn't yet been documented officially, but will be soon. In short, "has_all" will only match when the referenced field has all strings in the list. - Refer to Set-CASMailbox syntax: https://docs.microsoft.com/powershell/module/exchange/set-casmailbox?view=exchange-ps

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Telemetry coverage

Rule body

id: 2f561e20-d97b-4b13-b02d-18b34af6e87c
name: Email access via active sync
description: |
   This query detects attempts to add attacker devices as allowed IDs for active sync using the Set-CASMailbox command.
   This technique was seen in relation to Solorigate attack but the results can indicate potential malicious activity used in different attacks.
   - Note that this query can be changed to use the KQL "has_all" operator, which hasn't yet been documented officially, but will be soon.
     In short, "has_all" will only match when the referenced field has all strings in the list.
   - Refer to Set-CASMailbox syntax: https://docs.microsoft.com/powershell/module/exchange/set-casmailbox?view=exchange-ps  
severity: Medium
requiredDataConnectors:
  - connectorId: SecurityEvents
    dataTypes:
      - SecurityEvent
  - connectorId: MicrosoftThreatProtection
    dataTypes:
      - DeviceProcessEvents
  - connectorId: WindowsSecurityEvents
    dataTypes: 
      - SecurityEvents 
  - connectorId: WindowsForwardedEvents
    dataTypes: 
      - WindowsEvent 
queryFrequency: 1d
queryPeriod: 1d
triggerOperator: gt
triggerThreshold: 0
tactics:
  - PrivilegeEscalation
relevantTechniques:
  - T1068
  - T1078
tags:
  - Solorigate
  - NOBELIUM
query: |
  let timeframe = 1d;
  let cmdList = dynamic(["Set-CASMailbox","ActiveSyncAllowedDeviceIDs","add"]);
  (union isfuzzy=true
  (
  SecurityEvent
  | where TimeGenerated >= ago(timeframe)
  | where EventID == 4688
  | where CommandLine has_all (cmdList)
  | project Type, TimeGenerated, Computer, Account, SubjectDomainName, SubjectUserName, Process, ParentProcessName, CommandLine
  | extend timestamp = TimeGenerated, AccountEntity = Account, HostEntity = Computer
  ),
  ( WindowsEvent
  | where TimeGenerated >= ago(timeframe)
  | where EventID == 4688
  | where EventData has_all (cmdList)
  | extend CommandLine = tostring(EventData.CommandLine) 
  | where CommandLine has_all (cmdList)
  | extend Account =  strcat(tostring(EventData.SubjectDomainName),"\\", tostring(EventData.SubjectUserName))
  | extend SubjectUserName = tostring(EventData.SubjectUserName)
  | extend SubjectDomainName = tostring(EventData.SubjectDomainName)
  | extend NewProcessName = tostring(EventData.NewProcessName)
  | extend Process=tostring(split(NewProcessName, '\\')[-1])
  | extend ParentProcessName = tostring(EventData.ParentProcessName)
  | project Type, TimeGenerated, Computer, Account, SubjectDomainName, SubjectUserName, Process, ParentProcessName, CommandLine
  | extend timestamp = TimeGenerated, AccountEntity = Account, HostEntity = Computer
  ),
  (
  DeviceProcessEvents
  | where TimeGenerated >= ago(timeframe)
  | where InitiatingProcessCommandLine has_all (cmdList)
  | project Type, TimeGenerated, DeviceName, AccountName, InitiatingProcessAccountDomain, InitiatingProcessAccountName, InitiatingProcessFileName, InitiatingProcessParentFileName,  InitiatingProcessCommandLine
  | extend timestamp = TimeGenerated, AccountDomain = InitiatingProcessAccountDomain, AccountName = InitiatingProcessAccountName, HostEntity = DeviceName
  ),
  (
  Event
  | where TimeGenerated > ago(timeframe)
  | where Source == "Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon"
  | where EventID == 1
  | extend EventData = parse_xml(EventData).DataItem.EventData.Data
  | mv-expand bagexpansion=array EventData
  | evaluate bag_unpack(EventData)
  | extend Key=tostring(['@Name']), Value=['#text']
  | evaluate pivot(Key, any(Value), TimeGenerated, Source, EventLog, Computer, EventLevel, EventLevelName, EventID, UserName, RenderedDescription, MG, ManagementGroupName, Type, _ResourceId)
  | where TimeGenerated >= ago(timeframe)
  | where CommandLine has_all (cmdList)
  | extend Type = strcat(Type, ": ", Source)
  | project Type, TimeGenerated, Computer, User, Process, ParentImage, CommandLine
  | extend timestamp = TimeGenerated, AccountEntity = User, HostEntity = Computer
  )
  )
  | extend HostName = tostring(split(HostEntity, ".")[0]), DomainIndex = toint(indexof(HostEntity, '.'))
  | extend HostNameDomain = iff(DomainIndex != -1, substring(HostEntity, DomainIndex + 1), HostEntity)
  | extend AccountName = tostring(split(AccountEntity, @'\')[1]), AccountDomain = tostring(split(AccountEntity, @'\')[0])
entityMappings:
  - entityType: Account
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: FullName
        columnName: AccountEntity
      - identifier: Name
        columnName: AccountName
      - identifier: NTDomain
        columnName: AccountDomain
  - entityType: Host
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: FullName
        columnName: HostEntity
      - identifier: HostName
        columnName: HostName
      - identifier: NTDomain
        columnName: HostNameDomain
version: 1.2.1
kind: Scheduled
metadata:
    source:
        kind: Community
    author:
        name: Microsoft Security Research
    support:
        tier: Community
    categories:
        domains: [ "Security - Threat Protection" ]

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: let

let timeframe = 1d;
let cmdList = dynamic(["Set-CASMailbox","ActiveSyncAllowedDeviceIDs","add"]);

Stage 1: union

union of 4 branches

Stage 2: source

SecurityEvent

Stage 3: where

| where TimeGenerated >= ago(timeframe)

Stage 4: where

| where EventID == 4688

Stage 5: where

| where CommandLine has_all (cmdList)

Stage 6: project

| project Type, TimeGenerated, Computer, Account, SubjectDomainName, SubjectUserName, Process, ParentProcessName, CommandLine

Stage 7: extend

| extend timestamp = TimeGenerated, AccountEntity = Account, HostEntity = Computer

Stage 8: source

WindowsEvent

Stage 9: where

| where TimeGenerated >= ago(timeframe)

Stage 10: where

| where EventID == 4688

Stage 11: where

| where EventData has_all (cmdList)

Stage 12: extend

| extend CommandLine = tostring(EventData.CommandLine)

Stage 13: where

| where CommandLine has_all (cmdList)

Stage 14: extend (6 consecutive steps)

| extend Account =  strcat(tostring(EventData.SubjectDomainName),"\\", tostring(EventData.SubjectUserName))
| extend SubjectUserName = tostring(EventData.SubjectUserName)
| extend SubjectDomainName = tostring(EventData.SubjectDomainName)
| extend NewProcessName = tostring(EventData.NewProcessName)
| extend Process=tostring(split(NewProcessName, '\\')[-1])
| extend ParentProcessName = tostring(EventData.ParentProcessName)

Stage 15: project

| project Type, TimeGenerated, Computer, Account, SubjectDomainName, SubjectUserName, Process, ParentProcessName, CommandLine

Stage 16: extend

| extend timestamp = TimeGenerated, AccountEntity = Account, HostEntity = Computer

Stage 17: source

DeviceProcessEvents

Stage 18: where

| where TimeGenerated >= ago(timeframe)

Stage 19: where

| where InitiatingProcessCommandLine has_all (cmdList)

Stage 20: project

| project Type, TimeGenerated, DeviceName, AccountName, InitiatingProcessAccountDomain, InitiatingProcessAccountName, InitiatingProcessFileName, InitiatingProcessParentFileName,  InitiatingProcessCommandLine

Stage 21: extend

| extend timestamp = TimeGenerated, AccountDomain = InitiatingProcessAccountDomain, AccountName = InitiatingProcessAccountName, HostEntity = DeviceName

Stage 22: source

Event

Stage 23: where

| where TimeGenerated > ago(timeframe)

Stage 24: where

| where Source == "Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon"

Stage 25: where

| where EventID == 1

Stage 26: extend

| extend EventData = parse_xml(EventData).DataItem.EventData.Data

Stage 27: mv-expand

| mv-expand bagexpansion=array EventData

Stage 28: evaluate

| evaluate bag_unpack(EventData)

Stage 29: extend

| extend Key=tostring(['@Name']), Value=['#text']

Stage 30: evaluate

| evaluate pivot(Key, any(Value), TimeGenerated, Source, EventLog, Computer, EventLevel, EventLevelName, EventID, UserName, RenderedDescription, MG, ManagementGroupName, Type, _ResourceId)

Stage 31: where

| where TimeGenerated >= ago(timeframe)

Stage 32: where

| where CommandLine has_all (cmdList)

Stage 33: extend

| extend Type = strcat(Type, ": ", Source)

Stage 34: project

| project Type, TimeGenerated, Computer, User, Process, ParentImage, CommandLine

Stage 35: extend (4 consecutive steps)

| extend timestamp = TimeGenerated, AccountEntity = User, HostEntity = Computer

Indicators

These rows show field, operator, and value matches.

FieldKindValuesSearch
CommandLinematch
  • ActiveSyncAllowedDeviceIDs transforms: term
  • Set-CASMailbox transforms: term
  • add transforms: term corpus 34 (sigma 26, splunk 4, chronicle 2, kusto 2)
field:"CommandLine" kind:match
EventDatamatch
  • ActiveSyncAllowedDeviceIDs transforms: term
  • Set-CASMailbox transforms: term
  • add transforms: term
field:"EventData" kind:match
EventIDeq
  • 1 corpus 242 (splunk 226, kusto 15, elastic 1)
  • 4688 corpus 317 (splunk 283, kusto 33, elastic 1)
field:"EventID" kind:eq
InitiatingProcessCommandLinematch
  • ActiveSyncAllowedDeviceIDs transforms: term
  • Set-CASMailbox transforms: term
  • add transforms: term corpus 34 (sigma 26, splunk 4, chronicle 2, kusto 2)
field:"CommandLine" kind:match

Output fields

These fields are emitted when the rule matches.

FieldSource
CommandLineproject
Computerproject
ParentImageproject
Processproject
TimeGeneratedproject
Typeproject
Userproject
AccountEntityextend
HostEntityextend
timestampextend
DomainIndexextend
HostNameextend
HostNameDomainextend
AccountDomainextend
AccountNameextend