Password Spraying

Status: available
Severity: medium
Time window: 1d
Group by: DeviceName, RemoteIP
Source: github.com/Azure/Azure-Sentinel

This query detects a password spraying attack, where a single machine has performed a large number of failed login attempts, with a large number of different accounts. For each account, the attacker uses just a few attempts to prevent account lockout. This query uses the DeviceLogonEvents per machine to detect a password spraying attacks. The machine against which the password spraying is performed (can be DC, a server or even an endpoint) needs to be enrolled in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Credential Access	`T1110.003` Brute Force: Password Spraying

Event coverage

Provider	Event/ActionType	Title
Security-Auditing	Event ID 4624	An account was successfully logged on.
Security-Auditing	Event ID 4625	An account failed to log on.
Defender-DeviceLogonEvents	LogonSuccess	Logon succeeded
Defender-DeviceLogonEvents	LogonFailed	Logon failed

Rule body kusto

id: e00f72ab-fea1-4a31-9ecc-eea6397cd38d
name: Password Spraying
description: |
  This query detects a password spraying attack, where a single machine has performed a large number of failed login attempts, with a large number of different accounts. 
  For each account, the attacker uses just a few attempts to prevent account lockout. This query uses the DeviceLogonEvents per machine to detect a password spraying attacks. 
  The machine against which the password spraying is performed (can be DC, a server or even an endpoint) needs to be enrolled in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint.
severity: Medium
status: Available
requiredDataConnectors:
  - connectorId: MicrosoftThreatProtection
    dataTypes:
      - DeviceLogonEvents
queryFrequency: 1d
queryPeriod: 1d
triggerOperator: gt
triggerThreshold: 0
tactics:
  - CredentialAccess
relevantTechniques:
  - T1110.003
query: |
  let thresholdForUniqueFailedAccounts = 20;
  let upperBoundOfFailedLogonsPerAccount = 10;
  let ratioSuccessFailedLogons = 0.5;
  let timeframe = 1d;
  DeviceLogonEvents
  | where Timestamp >= ago(timeframe)
  | where LogonType != "Unlock" and ActionType in ("LogonSuccess", "LogonFailed")
  | where not(isempty( RemoteIP) and isempty( RemoteDeviceName))
  | extend LocalLogon=parse_json(AdditionalFields)
  | where RemoteIPType != "Loopback"
  | summarize SuccessLogonCount = countif(ActionType == "LogonSuccess"), FailedLogonCount = countif(ActionType == "LogonFailed"),
      UniqueAccountFailedLogons=dcountif(AccountName, ActionType == "LogonFailed"), FirstFailed=minif(Timestamp, ActionType == "LogonFailed"),
      LastFailed=maxif(Timestamp, ActionType == "LogonFailed"), LastTimestamp=arg_max(Timestamp, tostring(ReportId)) by RemoteIP, DeviceName // RemoteIP is the source of the logon attempt.
  | project-rename IPAddress=RemoteIP
  | where UniqueAccountFailedLogons > thresholdForUniqueFailedAccounts and SuccessLogonCount*ratioSuccessFailedLogons < FailedLogonCount and UniqueAccountFailedLogons*upperBoundOfFailedLogonsPerAccount > FailedLogonCount 
entityMappings:
  - entityType: Host
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: FullName
        columnName: DeviceName
  - entityType: IP
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: Address
        columnName: IPAddress 
version: 1.0.1
kind: Scheduled

Stages and Predicates

Parameters

let thresholdForUniqueFailedAccounts = 20;
let upperBoundOfFailedLogonsPerAccount = 10;
let ratioSuccessFailedLogons = 0.5;
let timeframe = 1d;

Stage 1: `source`

DeviceLogonEvents

Stage 2: `where`

| where Timestamp >= ago(timeframe)

Stage 3: `where`

| where LogonType != "Unlock" and ActionType in ("LogonSuccess", "LogonFailed")

Stage 4: `where`

| where not(isempty( RemoteIP) and isempty( RemoteDeviceName))

Stage 5: `extend`

| extend LocalLogon=parse_json(AdditionalFields)

Stage 6: `where`

| where RemoteIPType != "Loopback"

Stage 7: `summarize`

| summarize SuccessLogonCount = countif(ActionType == "LogonSuccess"), FailedLogonCount = countif(ActionType == "LogonFailed"),
    UniqueAccountFailedLogons=dcountif(AccountName, ActionType == "LogonFailed"), FirstFailed=minif(Timestamp, ActionType == "LogonFailed"),
    LastFailed=maxif(Timestamp, ActionType == "LogonFailed"), LastTimestamp=arg_max(Timestamp, tostring(ReportId)) by RemoteIP, DeviceName

Threshold: gt 20

Stage 8: `project-rename`

| project-rename IPAddress=RemoteIP

Stage 9: `where`

| where UniqueAccountFailedLogons > thresholdForUniqueFailedAccounts and SuccessLogonCount*ratioSuccessFailedLogons < FailedLogonCount and UniqueAccountFailedLogons*upperBoundOfFailedLogonsPerAccount > FailedLogonCount

Exclusions

Top-level NOT(...) conjuncts: predicates this rule actively suppresses.

Field	Kind	Excluded values
`RemoteDeviceName`	is_null	(no value, null check)
`RemoteIP`	is_null	(no value, null check)

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`	in	`LogonFailed` transforms: `cased` `LogonSuccess` transforms: `cased` corpus 5 (kusto 5)
`LogonType`	ne	`Unlock` transforms: `cased`
`RemoteIPType`	ne	`Loopback` transforms: `cased` corpus 2 (kusto 2)
`SuccessLogonCount`	cross_field_compare	`FailedLogonCount` transforms: `op:lt`, `lhs:mul:0.5`
`UniqueAccountFailedLogons`	cross_field_compare	`FailedLogonCount` transforms: `op:gt`, `lhs:mul:10`
`UniqueAccountFailedLogons`	gt	`20` 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.

Field	Source
`DeviceName`	`summarize`
`FailedLogonCount`	`summarize`
`FirstFailed`	`summarize`
`LastFailed`	`summarize`
`LastTimestamp`	`summarize`
`RemoteIP`	`summarize`
`SuccessLogonCount`	`summarize`
`UniqueAccountFailedLogons`	`summarize`
`IPAddress`	`project-rename`

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`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)

Password Spraying

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

Parameters

Stage 1: `source`

Stage 2: `where`

Stage 3: `where`

Stage 4: `where`

Stage 5: `extend`

Stage 6: `where`

Stage 7: `summarize`

Stage 8: `project-rename`

Stage 9: `where`

Exclusions

Indicators

Output fields

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

Password Spraying

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

Parameters

Stage 1: source

Stage 2: where

Stage 3: where

Stage 4: where

Stage 5: extend

Stage 6: where

Stage 7: summarize

Stage 8: project-rename

Stage 9: where

Exclusions

Indicators

Output fields

Stage 1: `source`

Stage 2: `where`

Stage 3: `where`

Stage 4: `where`

Stage 5: `extend`

Stage 6: `where`

Stage 7: `summarize`

Stage 8: `project-rename`

Stage 9: `where`