Detection rules › Splunk
Windows PowerView Kerberos Service Ticket Request
The following analytic detects the execution of the Get-DomainSPNTicket commandlet, part of the PowerView tool, by leveraging PowerShell Script Block Logging (EventCode=4104). This commandlet requests Kerberos service tickets for specified service principal names (SPNs). Monitoring this activity is crucial as it can indicate attempts to perform Kerberoasting, a technique used to extract SPN account passwords via cracking tools like hashcat. If confirmed malicious, this activity could allow attackers to gain unauthorized access to sensitive accounts, potentially leading to privilege escalation and further network compromise.
MITRE ATT&CK coverage
| Tactic | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Credential Access | T1558.003 Steal or Forge Kerberos Tickets: Kerberoasting |
Event coverage
| Provider | Event | Title |
|---|---|---|
| PowerShell | Event ID 4104 | Creating Scriptblock text (MessageNumber of MessageTotal). |
Rule body splunk
name: Windows PowerView Kerberos Service Ticket Request
id: 970455a1-4ac2-47e1-a9a5-9e75443ddcb9
version: 11
creation_date: '2022-06-22'
modification_date: '2026-05-13'
author: Gowthamaraj Rajendran, Splunk
status: production
type: TTP
description: The following analytic detects the execution of the `Get-DomainSPNTicket` commandlet, part of the PowerView tool, by leveraging PowerShell Script Block Logging (EventCode=4104). This commandlet requests Kerberos service tickets for specified service principal names (SPNs). Monitoring this activity is crucial as it can indicate attempts to perform Kerberoasting, a technique used to extract SPN account passwords via cracking tools like hashcat. If confirmed malicious, this activity could allow attackers to gain unauthorized access to sensitive accounts, potentially leading to privilege escalation and further network compromise.
data_source:
- Powershell Script Block Logging 4104
search: |-
`powershell` EventCode=4104 ScriptBlockText=*Get-DomainSPNTicket*
| fillnull
| stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime
BY dest signature signature_id
user_id vendor_product EventID
Guid Opcode Name
Path ProcessID ScriptBlockId
ScriptBlockText
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
| `windows_powerview_kerberos_service_ticket_request_filter`
how_to_implement: The following analytic requires PowerShell operational logs to be imported. Modify the powershell macro as needed to match the sourcetype or add index. This analytic is specific to 4104, or PowerShell Script Block Logging.
known_false_positives: False positive may include Administrators using PowerView for troubleshooting and management.
references:
- https://powersploit.readthedocs.io/en/latest/Recon/Get-DomainSPNTicket/
- https://book.hacktricks.xyz/windows-hardening/active-directory-methodology/kerberoast
- https://github.com/PowerShellMafia/PowerSploit/blob/master/Recon/PowerView.ps1
- https://www.ired.team/offensive-security-experiments/active-directory-kerberos-abuse/t1208-kerberoasting
- https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1558/003
drilldown_searches:
- name: View the detection results for - "$dest$"
search: '%original_detection_search% | search dest = "$dest$"'
earliest_offset: $info_min_time$
latest_offset: $info_max_time$
- name: View risk events for the last 7 days for - "$dest$"
search: '| from datamodel Risk.All_Risk | search normalized_risk_object IN ("$dest$") | stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime values(search_name) as "Search Name" values(risk_message) as "Risk Message" values(analyticstories) as "Analytic Stories" values(annotations._all) as "Annotations" values(annotations.mitre_attack.mitre_tactic) as "ATT&CK Tactics" by normalized_risk_object | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`'
earliest_offset: 7d
latest_offset: "0"
finding:
title: PowerView commandlets used for requesting SPN service ticket executed on $dest$
entity:
field: dest
type: system
score: 50
analytic_story:
- Active Directory Kerberos Attacks
- Rhysida Ransomware
asset_type: Endpoint
mitre_attack_id:
- T1558.003
product:
- Splunk Enterprise
- Splunk Enterprise Security
- Splunk Cloud
category: endpoint
security_domain: endpoint
tests:
- name: True Positive Test
attack_data:
- data: https://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/attack_techniques/T1558.003/powerview/windows-powershell-xml.log
source: XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-PowerShell/Operational
sourcetype: XmlWinEventLog
test_type: unit
Stages and Predicates
Stage 1: search
`powershell` EventCode=4104 ScriptBlockText=*Get-DomainSPNTicket*
Stage 2: fillnull
| fillnull
Stage 3: stats
| stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime
BY dest signature signature_id
user_id vendor_product EventID
Guid Opcode Name
Path ProcessID ScriptBlockId
ScriptBlockText
Stage 4: search
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
Stage 5: search
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
Stage 6: search
| `windows_powerview_kerberos_service_ticket_request_filter`
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 |
|---|---|---|
EventCode | eq |
|
ScriptBlockText | eq |
|