Detection: PetitPotam Suspicious Kerberos TGT Request

Updated Date: 2024-05-30 ID: e3ef244e-0a67-11ec-abf2-acde48001122 Author: Michael Haag, Mauricio Velazco, Splunk Type: TTP Product: Splunk Enterprise Security

Description

The following analytic detects a suspicious Kerberos Ticket Granting Ticket (TGT) request, identified by Event Code 4768. This detection leverages Windows Security Event Logs to identify TGT requests with unusual fields, which may indicate the use of tools like Rubeus following the exploitation of CVE-2021-36942 (PetitPotam). This activity is significant as it can signal an attacker leveraging a compromised certificate to request Kerberos tickets, potentially leading to unauthorized access. If confirmed malicious, this could allow attackers to escalate privileges and persist within the environment, posing a severe security risk.

Search

1`wineventlog_security` EventCode=4768 src!="::1" TargetUserName=*$ CertThumbprint!="" 
2| stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime by dest, TargetUserName, src, action 
3| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` 
4| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` 
5| `petitpotam_suspicious_kerberos_tgt_request_filter`

Data Source

Name	Platform	Sourcetype	Source	Supported App
Windows Event Log Security 4768	Windows	`'xmlwineventlog'`	`'XmlWinEventLog:Security'`	N/A

Macros Used

Name	Value
security_content_ctime	`convert timeformat="%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S" ctime($field$)`
petitpotam_suspicious_kerberos_tgt_request_filter	`search *`

petitpotam_suspicious_kerberos_tgt_request_filter is an empty macro by default. It allows the user to filter out any results (false positives) without editing the SPL.

Annotations

- MITRE ATT&CK

+ Kill Chain Phases

+ NIST

+ CIS

- Threat Actors

ID	Technique	Tactic
T1003	OS Credential Dumping	Credential Access

KillChainPhase.EXPLOITAITON

NistCategory.DE_CM

Cis18Value.CIS_10

APT28

APT32

APT39

Axiom

Leviathan

Poseidon Group

Sowbug

Suckfly

Tonto Team

Default Configuration

This detection is configured by default in Splunk Enterprise Security to run with the following settings:

Setting	Value
Disabled	true
Cron Schedule	`0 * * * *`
Earliest Time	`-70m@m`
Latest Time	`-10m@m`
Schedule Window	`auto`
Creates Notable	Yes
Rule Title	`%name%`
Rule Description	`%description%`
Notable Event Fields	user, dest
Creates Risk Event	True

This configuration file applies to all detections of type TTP. These detections will use Risk Based Alerting and generate Notable Events.

Implementation

The following analytic requires Event Code 4768. Ensure that it is logging no Domain Controllers and appearing in Splunk.

Known False Positives

False positives are possible if the environment is using certificates for authentication.

Associated Analytic Story

Risk Based Analytics (RBA)

Risk Message	Risk Score	Impact	Confidence
A Kerberos TGT was requested in a non-standard manner against $dest$, potentially related to CVE-2021-36942, PetitPotam.	56	80	70

The Risk Score is calculated by the following formula: Risk Score = (Impact * Confidence/100). Initial Confidence and Impact is set by the analytic author.

References

Detection Testing

Test Type	Status	Dataset	Source	Sourcetype
Validation	✅ Passing	N/A	N/A	N/A
Unit	✅ Passing	Dataset	`XmlWinEventLog:Security`	`XmlWinEventLog`
Integration	✅ Passing	Dataset	`XmlWinEventLog:Security`	`XmlWinEventLog`

Replay any dataset to Splunk Enterprise by using our replay.py tool or the UI. Alternatively you can replay a dataset into a Splunk Attack Range

Source: GitHub | Version: 3