Detection rules › Splunk

Windows Multiple Accounts Disabled

Author
Mauricio Velazco, Splunk
Source
upstream

The following analytic identifies instances where more than five unique Windows accounts are disabled within a 10-minute window, as indicated by Event Code 4725 in the Windows Security Event Log. It leverages the wineventlog_security dataset, grouping data into 10-minute segments and tracking the count and distinct count of TargetUserName. This behavior is significant as it may indicate internal policy breaches or an external attacker's attempt to disrupt operations. If confirmed malicious, this activity could lead to widespread account lockouts, hindering user access and potentially disrupting business operations.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

TacticTechniques
Initial AccessT1078 Valid Accounts
PersistenceT1078 Valid Accounts, T1098 Account Manipulation
Privilege EscalationT1078 Valid Accounts, T1098 Account Manipulation
Defense EvasionT1078 Valid Accounts

Event coverage

ProviderEvent IDTitle
Security-Auditing4725A user account was disabled.

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: search

search EventCode=4725 status="success"

Stage 2: bucket

bucket span=10m _time

Stage 3: stats

stats dc(user) AS unique_users,AS user,AS dest BY EventCode, signature, _time, src_user, SubjectDomainName, TargetDomainName, Logon_ID

Stage 4: where

where unique_users>5

Stage 5: 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.

FieldKindValues
EventCodeeq
  • 4725
statuseq
  • success corpus 3 (splunk 3)
unique_usersgt
  • 5 corpus 3 (splunk 3)