Hunt for ADWS requests from unknown devices

Group by: DeviceName, IPAddress, RemoteIP
Author: Robbe Van den Daele
Source: github.com/HybridBrothers/Hunting-Queries-Detection-Rules

This hunting rule searches for incomming ADWS connections on Domain Controllers (DC's need to be onboarded in Defender for Endpoint) from IP Addresses that cannot be linked to MDE onboarded devices.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Discovery	`T1018` Remote System Discovery, `T1069.002` Permission Groups Discovery: Domain Groups, `T1087.002` Account Discovery: Domain Account, `T1135` Network Share Discovery, `T1201` Password Policy Discovery, `T1482` Domain Trust Discovery
Lateral Movement	`T1021.002` Remote Services: SMB/Windows Admin Shares
Collection	`T1119` Automated Collection

References

Event coverage

Provider	Event/ActionType	Title
Sysmon	Event ID 3	Network connection
Security-Auditing	Event ID 5156	The Windows Filtering Platform has permitted a connection.
Defender-DeviceNetworkEvents	any	Network activity (any)

Rule body yaml

let device_info = (
    // Get device network info from last 7 days
    DeviceNetworkInfo
    | where Timestamp > ago(7d)
    // Expand the IP Addresses of the devices
    | mv-expand todynamic(IPAddresses)
    | extend IPAddress = tostring(IPAddresses.IPAddress)
    // Distinct IP address for each device
    | distinct DeviceName, DeviceId, IPAddress
    // Search for each device if it is onboarded or not
    | join kind=inner (
        DeviceInfo 
        | where Timestamp > ago(7d)
        | distinct DeviceName, DeviceId, OnboardingStatus
        // Get the first timestamp the device was seen
        | join kind=inner (
            DeviceInfo
            | where Timestamp > ago(30d)
            | summarize FirstSeen = arg_min(Timestamp, DeviceId) by DeviceId
        ) on DeviceId
        | project-away DeviceId1, DeviceId2
    ) on DeviceId, DeviceName
    | project-away DeviceName1, DeviceId1
);
// Get incomming traffic on ADWS port and save unique remote IP addresses
DeviceNetworkEvents
| where Timestamp > ago(30d)
| where ActionType != "ListeningConnectionCreated"
| where InitiatingProcessFolderPath == @"c:\windows\adws\microsoft.activedirectory.webservices.exe"
| where LocalPort == "9389"
| summarize ConnectionTimes=make_list(Timestamp) by RemoteIP, DeviceName
// Get device information of remote IP addresses, results for IP we do not find information for are allowed
| join kind=leftouter device_info on $left.RemoteIP == $right.IPAddress
| project-away IPAddress
// Check if the remote IPs are onboarded devices or not
| where OnboardingStatus != "Onboarded"
// Make output better
| project DeviceName, ConnectionTimes, RemoteIP, RemoteDeviceName = DeviceName1, RemoteDeviceId = DeviceId, RemoteOnboardingStatus = OnboardingStatus, RemoteDeviceFirstSeen = FirstSeen

let device_info = (
    // Get device network info from last 7 days
    DeviceNetworkInfo
    | where TimeGenerated > ago(7d)
    // Expand the IP Addresses of the devices
    | mv-expand todynamic(IPAddresses)
    | extend IPAddress = tostring(IPAddresses.IPAddress)
    // Distinct IP address for each device
    | distinct DeviceName, DeviceId, IPAddress
    // Search for each device if it is onboarded or not
    | join kind=inner (
        DeviceInfo 
        | where TimeGenerated > ago(7d)
        | distinct DeviceName, DeviceId, OnboardingStatus
        // Get the first timestamp the device was seen
        | join kind=inner (
            DeviceInfo
            | where TimeGenerated > ago(30d)
            | summarize FirstSeen = arg_min(TimeGenerated, DeviceId) by DeviceId
        ) on DeviceId
        | project-away DeviceId1, DeviceId2
    ) on DeviceId, DeviceName
    | project-away DeviceName1, DeviceId1
);
// Get incomming traffic on ADWS port and save unique remote IP addresses
DeviceNetworkEvents
| where TimeGenerated > ago(30d)
| where ActionType != "ListeningConnectionCreated"
| where InitiatingProcessFolderPath == @"c:\windows\adws\microsoft.activedirectory.webservices.exe"
| where LocalPort == "9389"
| summarize ConnectionTimes=make_list(TimeGenerated) by RemoteIP, DeviceName
// Get device information of remote IP addresses, results for IP we do not find information for are allowed
| join kind=leftouter device_info on $left.RemoteIP == $right.IPAddress
| project-away IPAddress
// Check if the remote IPs are onboarded devices or not
| where OnboardingStatus != "Onboarded"
// Make output better
| project DeviceName, ConnectionTimes, RemoteIP, RemoteDeviceName = DeviceName1, RemoteDeviceId = DeviceId, RemoteOnboardingStatus = OnboardingStatus, RemoteDeviceFirstSeen = FirstSeen

Stages and Predicates

Let binding: `device_info`

let device_info = (
    DeviceNetworkInfo
    | where Timestamp > ago(7d)
    | mv-expand todynamic(IPAddresses)
    | extend IPAddress = tostring(IPAddresses.IPAddress)
    | distinct DeviceName, DeviceId, IPAddress
    | join kind=inner (
        DeviceInfo 
        | where Timestamp > ago(7d)
        | distinct DeviceName, DeviceId, OnboardingStatus
        | join kind=inner (
            DeviceInfo
            | where Timestamp > ago(30d)
            | summarize FirstSeen = arg_min(Timestamp, DeviceId) by DeviceId
        ) on DeviceId
        | project-away DeviceId1, DeviceId2
    ) on DeviceId, DeviceName
    | project-away DeviceName1, DeviceId1
);

Stage 1: `source`

DeviceNetworkEvents

Stage 2: `where`

| where Timestamp > ago(30d)

Stage 3: `where`

| where ActionType != "ListeningConnectionCreated"

Stage 4: `where`

| where InitiatingProcessFolderPath == @"c:\windows\adws\microsoft.activedirectory.webservices.exe"

Stage 5: `where`

| where LocalPort == "9389"

Stage 6: `summarize`

| summarize ConnectionTimes=make_list(Timestamp) by RemoteIP, DeviceName

Stage 7: `join`

| join kind=leftouter device_info on $left.RemoteIP == $right.IPAddress

Stage 8: `project-away`

| project-away IPAddress

Stage 9: `where`

| where OnboardingStatus != "Onboarded"

Stage 10: `project`

| project DeviceName, ConnectionTimes, RemoteIP, RemoteDeviceName = DeviceName1, RemoteDeviceId = DeviceId, RemoteOnboardingStatus = OnboardingStatus, RemoteDeviceFirstSeen = FirstSeen

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.

Field	Kind	Values
`ActionType`	ne	`ListeningConnectionCreated` transforms: `cased` corpus 3 (kusto 3)
`InitiatingProcessFolderPath`	eq	`c:\windows\adws\microsoft.activedirectory.webservices.exe` transforms: `cased`
`LocalPort`	eq	`9389` transforms: `cased`
`OnboardingStatus`	ne	`Onboarded` transforms: `cased` corpus 5 (kusto 5)

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.

Field	Source
`ConnectionTimes`	`project`
`DeviceName`	`project`
`RemoteDeviceFirstSeen`	`project`
`RemoteDeviceId`	`project`
`RemoteDeviceName`	`project`
`RemoteIP`	`project`
`RemoteOnboardingStatus`	`project`

`j` / `k`	Scroll down / up
`d` / `u`	Half-page down / up
`gg` / `G`	Top / bottom
`h` / `l`	History back / forward
`f`	Follow link (`Shift` = new tab)
`/`	Focus search
`?`	Toggle this help
`↑` / `↓`	Navigate search results
`Enter`	Open highlighted result
`Esc`	Close results / dialog

`type:`	`events` / `rules` / `providers`
`vendor:`	`sigma` / `elastic` / `splunk` / `kusto` / `chronicle` (vendor name alone also works: `sigma:`, `kql:`, `secops:`…)
`tactic:`	TA-id, slug, or name: `credential_access`, `TA0006`
`technique:`	technique or sub-technique ID: `T1003`, `T1003.001` (alias `tech:`)
`severity:`	`critical` / `high` / `medium` / `low` / `informational` (alias `sev:`)
`risk_score`	Numeric comparison on the Elastic risk score (0 to 100): `risk_score>50`, `risk_score<=20`, `risk_score=99` (alias `risk`; Elastic rules only)
`stages:`	Rules with exactly N pipeline stages
`correlation:`	`single_event` / `sequence` / `alternatives` / `alternatives_cross_log` / `all_required` / `correlated`
`with:`	Co-occurrence event-id; stacks (`with:4624 with:4769`) to require all, while a comma list in one occurrence (`with:4624,4769`) is an either-or group. Implies multi-event
`like:`	Structural neighbors of a rule slug (equivalents + subsumption stricter / broader): `like:comsvcs_lsass_memory_dump-splunk-sysmon`
`groupby:`	Entity-grouping substring match against `group_by_keys`: `groupby:user`, `groupby:host`
`uses:`	Rules whose predicate tree touches the field (any kind, any value): `uses:CommandLine`
`excludes:`	Rules with top-level `not()` clauses on the field (FP whitelists): `excludes:ParentImage`
`field:` / `value:`	Predicate search; narrows rule cards to those with a matching leaf and drives the indicator tier. Unquoted = substring, wildcards allowed (`value:mimikatz`)
`indicator:`	Shorthand for `field:F value:V`: `indicator:Image=*\powershell.exe`
`kind:`	Filter by predicate kind. Narrows rule cards to those carrying a matching predicate leaf (`vendor:elastic kind:cidr_match`) and drives the indicator tier: `contains` / `starts_with` / `ends_with` / `regex` / `cidr` / `eq` / `in` … (operator aliases `op:`/`match:`)
`has:` / `no:`	`sample`, `field`, `notes`, `refs`, `trace`, `thirdparty`, `rule`, `pattern`, `timewindow`, `threshold`, `newterms`, `sigma`/`elastic`/`splunk`/`kusto`/`chronicle`
`-op:val`	Exclude matches; works on most operators but not `type:`/`like:`/`has:`/`no:` (use `no:<flag>` to exclude a rule flag): `tactic:execution -vendor:splunk`. Standalone `-kind:`/`-field:`/`-value:` drop every rule carrying a matching predicate leaf (`type:rules -kind:is_null`)
`field:"…"` / `value:"…"`	Quoted value = anchored exact match (also allows spaces): `value:"net user"`
`a,b`	Comma = OR inside one operator (`vendor:sigma,elastic`, `severity:high,critical`); repeating a facet merges the same way. `field:`/`value:` never split (literal commas)
`vendors:` / `stage:`	Singular and plural spellings fold to the canonical operator and value: `tactics:` = `tactic:`, `type:event` = `type:events`, `correlation:sequences` = `correlation:sequence`, `has:thresholds` = `has:threshold`
`"quoted phrase"`	Exact-match a multi-word phrase (free text)

Hunt for ADWS requests from unknown devices

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

References

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Let binding: `device_info`

Stage 1: `source`

Stage 2: `where`

Stage 3: `where`

Stage 4: `where`

Stage 5: `where`

Stage 6: `summarize`

Stage 7: `join`

Stage 8: `project-away`

Stage 9: `where`

Stage 10: `project`

Indicators

Output fields

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

Hunt for ADWS requests from unknown devices

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

References

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Let binding: device_info

Stage 1: source

Stage 2: where

Stage 3: where

Stage 4: where

Stage 5: where

Stage 6: summarize

Stage 7: join

Stage 8: project-away

Stage 9: where

Stage 10: project

Indicators

Output fields

Let binding: `device_info`

Stage 1: `source`

Stage 2: `where`

Stage 3: `where`

Stage 4: `where`

Stage 5: `where`

Stage 6: `summarize`

Stage 7: `join`

Stage 8: `project-away`

Stage 9: `where`

Stage 10: `project`