when there is a change to ntsecuritydescriptor, windows logs the entire acl with the newly added components. if existing accounts are present with this permission, they will raise an alert each time the ntsecuritydescriptor is updated unless whitelisted.

Techniques

T1484

Sample rules

Windows AD Domain Replication ACL Addition

source: splunk
technicques:
- T1484

Description

The following analytic detects the addition of permissions required for a DCSync attack, specifically DS-Replication-Get-Changes, DS-Replication-Get-Changes-All, and DS-Replication-Get-Changes-In-Filtered-Set. It leverages EventCode 5136 from the Windows Security Event Log to identify when these permissions are granted. This activity is significant because it indicates potential preparation for a DCSync attack, which can be used to replicate AD objects and exfiltrate sensitive data. If confirmed malicious, an attacker could gain extensive access to Active Directory, leading to severe data breaches and privilege escalation.

Detection logic

`wineventlog_security` EventCode=5136 ObjectClass=domainDNS  
| stats min(_time) as _time values(eval(if(OperationType=="%%14675",AttributeValue,null))) as old_value values(eval(if(OperationType=="%%14674",AttributeValue,null))) as new_value values(OperationType) as OperationType by ObjectClass ObjectDN OpCorrelationID src_user SubjectLogonId  
| rex field=old_value max_match=10000 "\((?P<old_values>.*?)\)"  
| rex field=new_value max_match=10000 "\((?P<new_ace>.*?)\)"  
| mvexpand new_ace 
| where NOT new_ace IN (old_values)  
| rex field=new_ace "(?P<aceType>.*?);(?P<aceFlags>.*?);(?P<aceAccessRights>.*?);(?P<aceObjectGuid>.*?);;(?P<aceSid>.*?)$" 
| search aceObjectGuid IN ("1131f6aa-9c07-11d1-f79f-00c04fc2dcd2","1131f6ad-9c07-11d1-f79f-00c04fc2dcd2","89e95b76-444d-4c62-991a-0facbeda640c") 
| rex max_match=100 field=aceAccessRights "(?P<AccessRights>[A-Z]{2})"  
| rex max_match=100 field=aceFlags "(?P<aceFlags>[A-Z]{2})"  
| lookup msad_guid_lookup guid as aceObjectGuid OUTPUT displayName as ControlAccessRights 
| lookup ace_access_rights_lookup access_rights_string as AccessRights OUTPUT access_rights_value  
| lookup ace_type_lookup ace_type_string as aceType OUTPUT ace_type_value  
| lookup ace_flag_lookup flag_string as aceFlags OUTPUT flag_value as ace_flag_value ``` Optional SID resolution lookups 
| lookup identity_lookup_expanded objectSid as aceSid OUTPUT downLevelDomainName as user  
| lookup admon_groups_def objectSid as aceSid OUTPUT cn as group ``` 
| lookup builtin_groups_lookup builtin_group_string  as aceSid OUTPUT builtin_group_name as builtin_group 
| eval aceType=coalesce(ace_type_value,aceType), aceFlags=coalesce(ace_flag_value,"This object only"), aceAccessRights=if(aceAccessRights="CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO","Full control",coalesce(access_rights_value,AccessRights)), aceControlAccessRights=coalesce(ControlAccessRights,aceObjectGuid), user=coalesce(user, group, builtin_group, aceSid) 
| stats min(_time) as _time values(aceType) as aceType values(aceFlags) as aceFlags(inheritance) values(aceControlAccessRights) as aceControlAccessRights values(aceAccessRights) as aceAccessRights values(new_ace) as new_ace values(SubjectLogonId) as SubjectLogonId by ObjectClass ObjectDN src_user user 
| search (aceControlAccessRights="DS-Replication-Get-Changes" AND aceControlAccessRights="DS-Replication-Get-Changes-All") OR (aceControlAccessRights="1131f6aa-9c07-11d1-f79f-00c04fc2dcd2" AND aceControlAccessRights="1131f6ad-9c07-11d1-f79f-00c04fc2dcd2") 
| `windows_ad_domain_replication_acl_addition_filter`