Detection rules › Splunk
Windows AD Domain Controller Audit Policy Disabled
The following analytic detects the disabling of audit policies on a domain controller. It leverages EventCode 4719 from Windows Security Event Logs to identify changes where success or failure auditing is removed. This activity is significant as it suggests an attacker may have gained access to the domain controller and is attempting to evade detection by tampering with audit policies. If confirmed malicious, this could lead to severe consequences, including data theft, privilege escalation, and full network compromise. Immediate investigation is required to determine the source and intent of the change.
MITRE ATT&CK coverage
| Tactic | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Defense Evasion | T1562.001 Impair Defenses: Disable or Modify Tools |
Event coverage
| Provider | Event ID | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Security-Auditing | 4719 | System audit policy was changed. |
Stages and Predicates
Stage 1: search
search (AuditPolicyChanges IN ("%%8448", "%%8448, %%8450", "%%8450") OR Changes IN ("Failure removed", "Success removed", "Success removed, Failure removed")) EventCode=4719 dest_category="domain_controller"
Stage 2: replace
replace
Stage 3: eval
eval ... using (Changes, Subcategory_GUID)
Stage 4: stats
stats BY AuditPolicyChanges, SubcategoryGuid
Stage 5: lookup
lookup <lookup> Category, GUID, SubCategory, SubcategoryGuid
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 |
|---|---|---|
AuditPolicyChanges | in |
|
Changes | in |
|
EventCode | eq |
|
dest_category | 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.
- Sensitive Audit Policy Sub-Category Disabled (drops 3 filters this rule applies)