Detection rules › Kusto

High count of failed logons by a user

Severity
medium
Time window
10m
Group by
Computer, csUserName, sIP
Author
Microsoft Security Research
Source
github.com/Azure/Azure-Sentinel

'Identifies when 100 or more failed attempts by a given user in 10 minutes occur on the IIS Server. This could be indicative of attempted brute force based on known account information. This could also simply indicate a misconfigured service or device. References: IIS status code mapping - https://support.microsoft.com/help/943891/the-http-status-code-in-iis-7-0-iis-7-5-and-iis-8-0 Win32 Status code mapping - https://msdn.microsoft.com/library/cc231199.aspx'

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

TacticTechniques
Credential AccessT1110 Brute Force

Rule body kusto

id: 884c4957-70ea-4f57-80b9-1bca3890315b
name: High count of failed logons by a user
description: |
  'Identifies when 100 or more failed attempts by a given user in 10 minutes occur on the IIS Server.
  This could be indicative of attempted brute force based on known account information.
  This could also simply indicate a misconfigured service or device.
  References:
  IIS status code mapping - https://support.microsoft.com/help/943891/the-http-status-code-in-iis-7-0-iis-7-5-and-iis-8-0
  Win32 Status code mapping - https://msdn.microsoft.com/library/cc231199.aspx'
severity: Medium
requiredDataConnectors:
  - connectorId: AzureMonitor(IIS)
    dataTypes:
      - W3CIISLog
queryFrequency: 1d
queryPeriod: 1d
triggerOperator: gt
triggerThreshold: 0
tactics:
  - CredentialAccess
relevantTechniques:
  - T1110
query: |
  let timeBin = 10m;
  let failedThreshold = 100;
  W3CIISLog
  | where scStatus in ("401","403")
  | where csUserName != "-"
  // Handling Exchange specific items in IIS logs to remove the unique log identifier in the URI
  | extend csUriQuery = iff(csUriQuery startswith "MailboxId=", tostring(split(csUriQuery, "&")[0]) , csUriQuery )
  | extend csUriQuery = iff(csUriQuery startswith "X-ARR-CACHE-HIT=", strcat(tostring(split(csUriQuery, "&")[0]),tostring(split(csUriQuery, "&")[1])) , csUriQuery )
  | extend scStatusFull = strcat(scStatus, ".",scSubStatus)
  // Map common IIS codes
  | extend scStatusFull_Friendly = case(
  scStatusFull == "401.0", "Access denied.",
  scStatusFull == "401.1", "Logon failed.",
  scStatusFull == "401.2", "Logon failed due to server configuration.",
  scStatusFull == "401.3", "Unauthorized due to ACL on resource.",
  scStatusFull == "401.4", "Authorization failed by filter.",
  scStatusFull == "401.5", "Authorization failed by ISAPI/CGI application.",
  scStatusFull == "403.0", "Forbidden.",
  scStatusFull == "403.4", "SSL required.",
  "See - https://support.microsoft.com/help/943891/the-http-status-code-in-iis-7-0-iis-7-5-and-iis-8-0")
  // Mapping to Hex so can be mapped using website in comments above
  | extend scWin32Status_Hex = tohex(tolong(scWin32Status))
  // Map common win32 codes
  | extend scWin32Status_Friendly = case(
  scWin32Status_Hex =~ "775", "The referenced account is currently locked out and cannot be logged on to.",
  scWin32Status_Hex =~ "52e", "Logon failure: Unknown user name or bad password.",
  scWin32Status_Hex =~ "532", "Logon failure: The specified account password has expired.",
  scWin32Status_Hex =~ "533", "Logon failure: Account currently disabled.",
  scWin32Status_Hex =~ "2ee2", "The request has timed out.",
  scWin32Status_Hex =~ "0", "The operation completed successfully.",
  scWin32Status_Hex =~ "1", "Incorrect function.",
  scWin32Status_Hex =~ "2", "The system cannot find the file specified.",
  scWin32Status_Hex =~ "3", "The system cannot find the path specified.",
  scWin32Status_Hex =~ "4", "The system cannot open the file.",
  scWin32Status_Hex =~ "5", "Access is denied.",
  scWin32Status_Hex =~ "8009030e", "SEC_E_NO_CREDENTIALS",
  scWin32Status_Hex =~ "8009030C", "SEC_E_LOGON_DENIED",
  "See - https://msdn.microsoft.com/library/cc231199.aspx")
  // decode URI when available
  | extend decodedUriQuery = url_decode(csUriQuery)
  // Count of failed logons by a user
  | summarize makeset(decodedUriQuery), makeset(cIP), makeset(sSiteName), makeset(sPort), makeset(csUserAgent), makeset(csMethod), makeset(csUriQuery), makeset(scStatusFull), makeset(scStatusFull_Friendly), makeset(scWin32Status_Hex), makeset(scWin32Status_Friendly), FailedConnectionsCount = count() by bin(TimeGenerated, timeBin), csUserName, Computer, sIP
  | where FailedConnectionsCount >= failedThreshold
  | project TimeGenerated, csUserName, set_decodedUriQuery, Computer, set_sSiteName, sIP, set_cIP, set_sPort, set_csUserAgent, set_csMethod, set_scStatusFull, set_scStatusFull_Friendly, set_scWin32Status_Hex, set_scWin32Status_Friendly, FailedConnectionsCount
  | order by FailedConnectionsCount
  | extend HostName = tostring(split(Computer, ".")[0]), DomainIndex = toint(indexof(Computer, '.'))
  | extend HostNameDomain = iff(DomainIndex != -1, substring(Computer, DomainIndex + 1), Computer)
  | extend AccountName = tostring(split(csUserName, "@")[0]), AccountUPNSuffix = tostring(split(csUserName, "@")[1])
entityMappings:
  - entityType: Account
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: FullName
        columnName: csUserName
      - identifier: Name
        columnName: AccountName
      - identifier: UPNSuffix
        columnName: AccountUPNSuffix
  - entityType: Host
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: FullName
        columnName: Computer
      - identifier: HostName
        columnName: HostName
      - identifier: NTDomain
        columnName: HostNameDomain  
version: 1.0.3
kind: Scheduled
metadata:
    source:
        kind: Community
    author:
        name: Microsoft Security Research
    support:
        tier: Community
    categories:
        domains: [ "Security - Others" ]

Stages and Predicates

Parameters

let timeBin = 10m;
let failedThreshold = 100;

Stage 1: source

W3CIISLog

Stage 2: where

| where scStatus in ("401","403")

Stage 3: where

| where csUserName != "-"

Stage 4: extend (7 consecutive steps)

| extend csUriQuery = iff(csUriQuery startswith "MailboxId=", tostring(split(csUriQuery, "&")[0]) , csUriQuery )
| extend csUriQuery = iff(csUriQuery startswith "X-ARR-CACHE-HIT=", strcat(tostring(split(csUriQuery, "&")[0]),tostring(split(csUriQuery, "&")[1])) , csUriQuery )
| extend scStatusFull = strcat(scStatus, ".",scSubStatus)
| extend scStatusFull_Friendly = case(
scStatusFull == "401.0", "Access denied.",
scStatusFull == "401.1", "Logon failed.",
scStatusFull == "401.2", "Logon failed due to server configuration.",
scStatusFull == "401.3", "Unauthorized due to ACL on resource.",
scStatusFull == "401.4", "Authorization failed by filter.",
scStatusFull == "401.5", "Authorization failed by ISAPI/CGI application.",
scStatusFull == "403.0", "Forbidden.",
scStatusFull == "403.4", "SSL required.",
"See - https://support.microsoft.com/help/943891/the-http-status-code-in-iis-7-0-iis-7-5-and-iis-8-0")
| extend scWin32Status_Hex = tohex(tolong(scWin32Status))
| extend scWin32Status_Friendly = case(
scWin32Status_Hex =~ "775", "The referenced account is currently locked out and cannot be logged on to.",
scWin32Status_Hex =~ "52e", "Logon failure: Unknown user name or bad password.",
scWin32Status_Hex =~ "532", "Logon failure: The specified account password has expired.",
scWin32Status_Hex =~ "533", "Logon failure: Account currently disabled.",
scWin32Status_Hex =~ "2ee2", "The request has timed out.",
scWin32Status_Hex =~ "0", "The operation completed successfully.",
scWin32Status_Hex =~ "1", "Incorrect function.",
scWin32Status_Hex =~ "2", "The system cannot find the file specified.",
scWin32Status_Hex =~ "3", "The system cannot find the path specified.",
scWin32Status_Hex =~ "4", "The system cannot open the file.",
scWin32Status_Hex =~ "5", "Access is denied.",
scWin32Status_Hex =~ "8009030e", "SEC_E_NO_CREDENTIALS",
scWin32Status_Hex =~ "8009030C", "SEC_E_LOGON_DENIED",
"See - https://msdn.microsoft.com/library/cc231199.aspx")
| extend decodedUriQuery = url_decode(csUriQuery)
csUriQuery =
ifcsUriQuery startswith "MailboxId="tostring(split(csUriQuery, "&")[0])
elsecsUriQuery

Stage 5: summarize

| summarize makeset(decodedUriQuery), makeset(cIP), makeset(sSiteName), makeset(sPort), makeset(csUserAgent), makeset(csMethod), makeset(csUriQuery), makeset(scStatusFull), makeset(scStatusFull_Friendly), makeset(scWin32Status_Hex), makeset(scWin32Status_Friendly), FailedConnectionsCount = count() by bin(TimeGenerated, timeBin), csUserName, Computer, sIP
Threshold
ge 100

Stage 6: where

| where FailedConnectionsCount >= failedThreshold

Stage 7: project

| project TimeGenerated, csUserName, set_decodedUriQuery, Computer, set_sSiteName, sIP, set_cIP, set_sPort, set_csUserAgent, set_csMethod, set_scStatusFull, set_scStatusFull_Friendly, set_scWin32Status_Hex, set_scWin32Status_Friendly, FailedConnectionsCount

Stage 8: sort

| order by FailedConnectionsCount

Stage 9: extend (3 consecutive steps)

| extend HostName = tostring(split(Computer, ".")[0]), DomainIndex = toint(indexof(Computer, '.'))
| extend HostNameDomain = iff(DomainIndex != -1, substring(Computer, DomainIndex + 1), Computer)
| extend AccountName = tostring(split(csUserName, "@")[0]), AccountUPNSuffix = tostring(split(csUserName, "@")[1])

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
FailedConnectionsCountge
  • 100 transforms: cased
csUserNamene
  • - transforms: cased
scStatusin
  • 401 transforms: cased
  • 403 transforms: cased

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
Computerproject
FailedConnectionsCountproject
TimeGeneratedproject
csUserNameproject
sIPproject
set_cIPproject
set_csMethodproject
set_csUserAgentproject
set_decodedUriQueryproject
set_sPortproject
set_sSiteNameproject
set_scStatusFullproject
set_scStatusFull_Friendlyproject
set_scWin32Status_Friendlyproject
set_scWin32Status_Hexproject
DomainIndexextend
HostNameextend
HostNameDomainextend
AccountNameextend
AccountUPNSuffixextend