Remote Computer Account DnsHostName Update

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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

Version: 107

Rule authors:

  • Elastic

Rule license: Elastic License v2

Rule query

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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&CKTM