Detection rules › Sigma

Azure Windows virtual machine login via serial console

Status
experimental
Severity
high
Log source
product windows, service security
Author
mdecrevoisier
Source
github.com/mdecrevoisier/SIGMA-detection-rules

Detects if an attacker logs on using the serial console.

Known false positives

  • Virtual machine recovery by administrator

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

TacticTechniques
Initial Access
Privilege Escalation

Telemetry coverage

Rule body

title: Azure Windows virtual machine login via serial console
description: Detects if an attacker logs on using the serial console.
references:
- https://msrc.microsoft.com/blog/2023/08/azure-serial-console-attack-and-defense-part-1/
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/azure/virtual-machines/serial-console-cmd-ps-commands
- https://www.mandiant.com/resources/blog/sim-swapping-abuse-azure-serial
tags:
- attack.initial_access
- attack.privilege_escalation
- attack.t1078 # valid accounts
author: mdecrevoisier
status: experimental
logsource:
  product: windows
  service: security
detection:
  selection:
    EventID: 4624
    LogonProcess|contains: 'sacsess.exe'
    LogonType: 2
  condition: selection
falsepositives:
- Virtual machine recovery by administrator
level: high

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: condition

selection

Stage 1: selection

selection:
  EventID: 4624
  LogonProcess|contains: 'sacsess.exe'
  LogonType: 2

Indicators

These rows show field, operator, and value matches.

FieldKindValuesSearch
LogonProcessmatch
  • sacsess.exe
field:"LogonProcess" kind:match value:"sacsess.exe"
LogonTypeeq
  • 2 corpus 5 (sigma 2, splunk 2, elastic 1)
field:"LogonType" kind:eq value:"2"