Detection rules › Splunk
Kerberoasting spn request with RC4 encryption
The following analytic detects potential Kerberoasting attacks by identifying Kerberos service ticket requests with RC4 encryption through Event ID 4769. It leverages specific Ticket_Options values commonly used by Kerberoasting tools. This activity is significant as Kerberoasting allows attackers to request service tickets for domain accounts, typically service accounts, and crack them offline to gain privileged access. If confirmed malicious, this could lead to unauthorized access, privilege escalation, and further compromise of the Active Directory environment.
MITRE ATT&CK coverage
| Tactic | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Credential Access | T1558.003 Steal or Forge Kerberos Tickets: Kerberoasting |
Event coverage
| Provider | Event ID | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Security-Auditing | 4769 | A Kerberos service ticket was requested. |
Stages and Predicates
Stage 1: search
search (TicketOptions=0x40800000 OR TicketOptions=0x40810000 OR TicketOptions=0x40810010) EventCode=4769 ServiceName!="*$" TicketEncryptionType=0x17
Stage 2: stats
stats BY Computer, user, service_id, service, TicketEncryptionType, TicketOptions
Stage 3: rename
rename
Stage 4: search
search
Stage 5: search
search
Stage 6: search
search `macro`
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.
| Field | Kind | Values |
|---|---|---|
EventCode | eq |
|
ServiceName | ne |
|
TicketEncryptionType | eq |
|
TicketOptions | eq |
|
Neighbors
Broader alternatives (more inclusive than this rule)
These rules match a superset of what this rule catches. They cover the same events plus more. Use them if you want wider coverage and can absorb more false positives.
- Suspicious Kerberos Service Ticket Request (drops 3 filters this rule applies)
- Unusual Number of Kerberos Service Tickets Requested (drops 1 filter this rule applies)