IMPORTANT: No additional bug fixes or documentation updates will be released for this version. For the latest information, see the current release documentation.

« Google Workspace MFA Enforcement Disabled Google Workspace Restrictions for Google Marketplace Modified to Allow Any App »

› › ›

Google Workspace Password Policy Modified

edit

Google Workspace Password Policy Modified

edit

Detects when a Google Workspace password policy is modified. An adversary may attempt to modify a password policy in order to weaken an organization’s security controls.

Rule type: query

Rule indices:

filebeat-*
logs-google_workspace*

Severity: medium

Risk score: 47

Runs every: 10 minutes

Searches indices from: now-130m (Date Math format, see also Additional look-back time)

Maximum alerts per execution: 100

Tags:

Elastic
Cloud
Google Workspace
Continuous Monitoring
SecOps
Identity and Access
Persistence

Version: 100 (version history)

Added (Elastic Stack release): 7.11.0

Last modified (Elastic Stack release): 8.5.0

Rule authors: Elastic

Rule license: Elastic License v2

Potential false positives

edit

Password policies may be modified by system administrators. Verify that the configuration change was expected. Exceptions can be added to this rule to filter expected behavior.

Investigation guide

edit

### Important Information Regarding Google Workspace Event Lag Times
- As per Google's documentation, Google Workspace administrators may observe lag times ranging from minutes up to 3 days between the time of an event's occurrence and the event being visible in the Google Workspace admin/audit logs.
- This rule is configured to run every 10 minutes with a lookback time of 130 minutes.
- To reduce the risk of false negatives, consider reducing the interval that the Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) Filebeat module polls Google's reporting API for new events.
- By default, `var.interval` is set to 2 hours (2h). Consider changing this interval to a lower value, such as 10 minutes (10m).
- See the following references for further information:
  - https://support.google.com/a/answer/7061566
  - https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/beats/filebeat/current/filebeat-module-google_workspace.html

Rule query

edit

event.dataset:google_workspace.admin and event.provider:admin and
event.category:iam and event.action:(CHANGE_APPLICATION_SETTING or
CREATE_APPLICATION_SETTING) and
google_workspace.admin.setting.name:( "Password Management -
Enforce strong password" or "Password Management - Password reset
frequency" or "Password Management - Enable password reuse" or
"Password Management - Enforce password policy at next login" or
"Password Management - Minimum password length" or "Password
Management - Maximum password length" )

Threat mapping

edit

Framework: MITRE ATT&CK^TM

Tactic:
- Name: Persistence
- ID: TA0003
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0003/
Technique:
- Name: Account Manipulation
- ID: T1098
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1098/

Rule version history

edit

Version 100 (8.5.0 release)

Formatting only

Version 15 (8.4.0 release)

Formatting only

Version 13 (8.3.0 release)

Formatting only

Version 11 (8.2.0 release)

Formatting only

Version 7 (8.0.0 release)

Updated query, changed from:

event.dataset:(gsuite.admin or google_workspace.admin) and
event.provider:admin and event.category:iam and
event.action:(CHANGE_APPLICATION_SETTING or
CREATE_APPLICATION_SETTING) and gsuite.admin.setting.name:(
"Password Management - Enforce strong password" or "Password
Management - Password reset frequency" or "Password Management -
Enable password reuse" or "Password Management - Enforce password
policy at next login" or "Password Management - Minimum password
length" or "Password Management - Maximum password length" ) or
google_workspace.admin.setting.name:( "Password Management -
Enforce strong password" or "Password Management - Password reset
frequency" or "Password Management - Enable password reuse" or
"Password Management - Enforce password policy at next login" or
"Password Management - Minimum password length" or "Password
Management - Maximum password length" )

Version 6 (7.15.0 release)

Formatting only

Version 5 (7.14.0 release)

Updated query, changed from:

event.dataset:(gsuite.admin or google_workspace.admin) and
event.provider:admin and event.category:iam and
event.action:(CHANGE_APPLICATION_SETTING or
CREATE_APPLICATION_SETTING) and gsuite.admin.setting.name:( "Password
Management - Enforce strong password" or "Password Management -
Password reset frequency" or "Password Management - Enable password
reuse" or "Password Management - Enforce password policy at next
login" or "Password Management - Minimum password length" or "Password
Management - Maximum password length" )

Version 4 (7.13.0 release)

Formatting only

Version 3 (7.12.0 release)

Formatting only

Version 2 (7.11.2 release)

Formatting only

« Google Workspace MFA Enforcement Disabled Google Workspace Restrictions for Google Marketplace Modified to Allow Any App »