Detection rules › Kusto

TI map Domain entity to DnsEvents

Severity
medium
Time window
14d
Group by
DomainName, Id, Name, ObservableValue
Source
github.com/Azure/Azure-Sentinel

Identifies a match in DnsEvents from any Domain IOC from TI

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

TacticTechniques
Command & ControlT1071 Application Layer Protocol

Rule body kusto

id: 03a8e294-3fc7-4d65-9da2-cff91fb5b6dc
name: TI map Domain entity to DnsEvents
description: |
  Identifies a match in DnsEvents from any Domain IOC from TI
severity: Medium
requiredDataConnectors:
  - connectorId: DNS
    dataTypes:
      - DnsEvents
  - connectorId: ThreatIntelligence
    dataTypes:
      - ThreatIntelIndicators
  - connectorId: ThreatIntelligenceTaxii
    dataTypes:
      - ThreatIntelIndicators
  - connectorId: MicrosoftDefenderThreatIntelligence
    dataTypes:
      - ThreatIntelIndicators
queryFrequency: 1h
queryPeriod: 14d
triggerOperator: gt
triggerThreshold: 0
tactics:
  - CommandAndControl
relevantTechniques:
  - T1071
query: |
  // Define the lookback periods for time-based filters
  let dt_lookBack = 1h; // Look back 1 hour for DNS events
  let ioc_lookBack = 14d; // Look back 14 days for threat intelligence indicators
  // Fetch threat intelligence indicators related to domains
  let Domain_Indicators = ThreatIntelIndicators
    // Filter out indicators without domain names
    | extend IndicatorType = replace(@"\[|\]|\""", "", tostring(split(ObservableKey, ":", 0)))
    | where IndicatorType == "domain-name"
    | extend DomainName = tolower(ObservableValue)
    | extend TrafficLightProtocolLevel = tostring(parse_json(AdditionalFields).TLPLevel)
    | extend Url = iff(ObservableKey == "url:value", ObservableValue, "")
    | where TimeGenerated >= ago(ioc_lookBack)
    | summarize LatestIndicatorTime = arg_max(TimeGenerated, *) by Id, ObservableValue
    | where IsActive and (ValidUntil > now() or isempty(ValidUntil));
  // Create a list of TLDs in our threat feed for later validation
  let maxListSize = 100000; // Define the maximum allowed size for each list
  let list_tlds = Domain_Indicators
    | extend parts = split(DomainName, '.')
    | extend tld = parts[(array_length(parts)-1)]
    | extend IndicatorId = tostring(split(Id, "--")[2])
    | summarize count() by tostring(tld)
    | project tld
    | summarize make_list(tld, maxListSize);
  // Perform a join between domain indicators and DNS events to identify potential malicious activity
  Domain_Indicators
   | project-reorder *, IsActive, Tags, TrafficLightProtocolLevel, DomainName, Type
    // Use innerunique to keep performance fast and result set low, as we only need one match to indicate potential malicious activity that needs investigation
    | join kind=innerunique (
      DnsEvents
      | where TimeGenerated > ago(dt_lookBack)
      // Extract domain patterns from syslog message
      | where isnotempty(Name)
      | extend parts = split(Name, '.')
      | extend tld = parts[(array_length(parts)-1)]
      // Validate parsed domain by checking if the TLD is in the list of TLDs in our threat feed
      | where tld in~ (list_tlds)
      | extend DNS_TimeGenerated = TimeGenerated
    ) on $left.DomainName==$right.Name
    // Filter out DNS events that occurred after the expiration of the corresponding indicator
    | where DNS_TimeGenerated < ValidUntil
    // Group the results by IndicatorId and Name, and keep the DNS event with the latest timestamp
    | summarize DNS_TimeGenerated = arg_max(DNS_TimeGenerated, *) by Id, Name
    // Select the desired output fields
    | extend ActivityGroupNames = extract(@"ActivityGroup:(\S+)", 1, tostring(parse_json(Data).labels))
    | project DNS_TimeGenerated, Description, ActivityGroupNames, Id, ValidUntil, Confidence, Url, Computer, ClientIP//, Name, QueryType, Type, DomainName
    // Extract hostname and DNS domain from the Computer field
    | extend HostName = tostring(split(Computer, '.', 0)[0]), DnsDomain = tostring(strcat_array(array_slice(split(Computer, '.'), 1, -1), '.'))
    // Rename the timestamp field
    | extend timestamp = DNS_TimeGenerated
entityMappings:
  - entityType: Host
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: FullName
        columnName: Computer
      - identifier: HostName
        columnName: HostName
      - identifier: DnsDomain
        columnName: DnsDomain 
  - entityType: IP
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: Address
        columnName: ClientIP
  - entityType: URL
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: Url
        columnName: Url
version: 1.4.6
kind: Scheduled

Stages and Predicates

Parameters

let dt_lookBack = 1h;
let ioc_lookBack = 14d;
let maxListSize = 100000;

Let binding: list_tlds

let list_tlds = Domain_Indicators
  | extend parts = split(DomainName, '.')
  | extend tld = parts[(array_length(parts)-1)]
  | extend IndicatorId = tostring(split(Id, "--")[2])
  | summarize count() by tostring(tld)
  | project tld
  | summarize make_list(tld, maxListSize);

Derived from Domain_Indicators, maxListSize.

The stages below define let Domain_Indicators (the rule's main pipeline source).

Stage 1: source

ThreatIntelIndicators

Stage 2: extend

| extend IndicatorType = replace(@"\[|\]|\""", "", tostring(split(ObservableKey, ":", 0)))

Stage 3: where

| where IndicatorType == "domain-name"

Stage 4: extend (3 consecutive steps)

| extend DomainName = tolower(ObservableValue)
| extend TrafficLightProtocolLevel = tostring(parse_json(AdditionalFields).TLPLevel)
| extend Url = iff(ObservableKey == "url:value", ObservableValue, "")

Stage 5: where

| where TimeGenerated >= ago(ioc_lookBack)

Stage 6: summarize

| summarize LatestIndicatorTime = arg_max(TimeGenerated, *) by Id, ObservableValue

Stage 7: where

| where IsActive and (ValidUntil > now() or isempty(ValidUntil))

The stages below run on Domain_Indicators (the outer pipeline).

Stage 8: project-reorder

Domain_Indicators
| project-reorder *, IsActive, Tags, TrafficLightProtocolLevel, DomainName, Type

Stage 9: join

| join kind=innerunique (
    DnsEvents
    | where TimeGenerated > ago(dt_lookBack)
    | where isnotempty(Name)
    | extend parts = split(Name, '.')
    | extend tld = parts[(array_length(parts)-1)]
    | where tld in~ (list_tlds)
    | extend DNS_TimeGenerated = TimeGenerated
  ) on $left.DomainName==$right.Name

Stage 10: where

| where DNS_TimeGenerated < ValidUntil

Stage 11: summarize

| summarize DNS_TimeGenerated = arg_max(DNS_TimeGenerated, *) by Id, Name

Stage 12: extend

| extend ActivityGroupNames = extract(@"ActivityGroup:(\S+)", 1, tostring(parse_json(Data).labels))

Stage 13: project

| project DNS_TimeGenerated, Description, ActivityGroupNames, Id, ValidUntil, Confidence, Url, Computer, ClientIP

Stage 14: extend

| extend HostName = tostring(split(Computer, '.', 0)[0]), DnsDomain = tostring(strcat_array(array_slice(split(Computer, '.'), 1, -1), '.'))

Stage 15: extend

| extend timestamp = DNS_TimeGenerated

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
DNS_TimeGeneratedlt
  • ValidUntil transforms: cased
IndicatorTypeeq
  • domain-name transforms: cased
Nameis_not_null
  • (no value, null check)
ValidUntilis_null
  • (no value, null check)
tldin
  • list_tlds

Output fields

Fields the rule emits when it matches. Chronicle authors list these in the outcome block; they appear on the detection and $risk_score drives alerting. Sentinel / Defender XDR rules build them up through project / summarize / extend stages. Sentinel maps these into alert fields via entityMappings and customDetails; Defender XDR custom detections surface them as alert fields directly.

FieldSource
ActivityGroupNamesproject
ClientIPproject
Computerproject
Confidenceproject
DNS_TimeGeneratedproject
Descriptionproject
Idproject
Urlproject
ValidUntilproject
DnsDomainextend
HostNameextend
timestampextend