Remote Computer Account DnsHostName Update

Identifies the remote update to a computer account’s DnsHostName attribute. If the new value set is a valid domain controller DNS hostname and the subject computer name is not a domain controller, then it’s highly likely a preparation step to exploit CVE-2022-26923 in an attempt to elevate privileges from a standard domain user to domain admin privileges.

Rule type: eql

Rule indices:

winlogbeat-*
logs-system.*
logs-windows.*

Severity: high

Risk score: 73

Runs every: 5m

Searches indices from: now-9m (Date Math format, see also Additional look-back time)

Maximum alerts per execution: 100

References:

Tags:

Domain: Endpoint
OS: Windows
Use Case: Threat Detection
Tactic: Privilege Escalation
Use Case: Active Directory Monitoring
Data Source: Active Directory
Use Case: Vulnerability
Data Source: System

Version: 108

Rule authors:

Elastic

Rule license: Elastic License v2

Rule query

edit

iam where event.action == "changed-computer-account" and user.id : ("S-1-5-21-*", "S-1-12-1-*") and

    /* if DnsHostName value equal a DC DNS hostname then it's highly suspicious */
    winlog.event_data.DnsHostName : "??*" and

    /* exclude FPs where DnsHostName starts with the ComputerName that was changed */
    not startswith~(winlog.event_data.DnsHostName, substring(winlog.event_data.TargetUserName, 0, length(winlog.event_data.TargetUserName) - 1))

Framework: MITRE ATT&CK^TM

Tactic:
- Name: Privilege Escalation
- ID: TA0004
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0004/
Technique:
- Name: Exploitation for Privilege Escalation
- ID: T1068
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1068/
Technique:
- Name: Valid Accounts
- ID: T1078
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1078/
Sub-technique:
- Name: Domain Accounts
- ID: T1078.002
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1078/002/

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