A process queried the ADFS database decryption key via LDAP

Synopsis

Field	Value
Activation Period	14 Days
Training Period	30 Days
Test Period	N/A (single event)
Deduplication Period	1 Day
Required Data	XDR Agent with eXtended Threat Hunting (XTH)
Detection Modules	Identity Analytics
Detector Tags	LDAP Analytics (Client), LDAP Analytics (Server), Active Directory Federation Services Analytics
ATT&CK Tactic	Credential Access (TA0006)
ATT&CK Technique	Steal or Forge Authentication Certificates (T1649)
Severity	Low

Description

A process queried the ADFS database decryption key (DKM key) via LDAP.

Attacker's Goals

• An attacker wanting to perform a golden SAML attack will want to steal the ADFS token-signing certificates.
• To steal the token-signing certificates, the attacker will need to access the ADFS database
• To access the encrypted ADFS database, an attacker will attempt to retrieve the decryption key via an LDAP query.

Investigative actions

• Check if the LDAP search query was allowed for the user (logged on at event time) or process.
• Check for unusual ADFS logins.
• Check the process that initiated the query.
• Investigate the LDAP search query for any suspicious indicators.

Variations

LDAP query explicitly queried the ADFS database decryption key (DKM key)

Synopsis

Field	Value
ATT&CK Tactic	Credential Access (TA0006)
ATT&CK Technique	Steal or Forge Authentication Certificates (T1649)
Severity	Medium

Description

A process queried the ADFS database decryption key (DKM key) via LDAP.

Attacker's Goals

• An attacker wanting to perform a golden SAML attack will want to steal the ADFS token-signing certificates.
• To steal the token-signing certificates, the attacker will need to access the ADFS database
• To access the encrypted ADFS database, an attacker will attempt to retrieve the decryption key via an LDAP query.

Investigative actions

• Check if the LDAP search query was allowed for the user (logged on at event time) or process.
• Check for unusual ADFS logins.
• Check the process that initiated the query.
• Investigate the LDAP search query for any suspicious indicators.

A process explicitly queried the ADFS database decryption key (DKM key) via LDAP

Synopsis

Field	Value
ATT&CK Tactic	Credential Access (TA0006)
ATT&CK Technique	Steal or Forge Authentication Certificates (T1649)
Severity	Medium

Description

A process queried the ADFS database decryption key (DKM key) via LDAP.

Attacker's Goals

• An attacker wanting to perform a golden SAML attack will want to steal the ADFS token-signing certificates.
• To steal the token-signing certificates, the attacker will need to access the ADFS database
• To access the encrypted ADFS database, an attacker will attempt to retrieve the decryption key via an LDAP query.

Investigative actions

• Check if the LDAP search query was allowed for the user (logged on at event time) or process.
• Check for unusual ADFS logins.
• Check the process that initiated the query.
• Investigate the LDAP search query for any suspicious indicators.

LDAP query queried the ADFS database decryption key (DKM key)

Synopsis

Field	Value
ATT&CK Tactic	Credential Access (TA0006)
ATT&CK Technique	Steal or Forge Authentication Certificates (T1649)
Severity	Low

Description

A process queried the ADFS database decryption key (DKM key) via LDAP.

Attacker's Goals

• An attacker wanting to perform a golden SAML attack will want to steal the ADFS token-signing certificates.
• To steal the token-signing certificates, the attacker will need to access the ADFS database
• To access the encrypted ADFS database, an attacker will attempt to retrieve the decryption key via an LDAP query.

Investigative actions

• Check if the LDAP search query was allowed for the user (logged on at event time) or process.
• Check for unusual ADFS logins.
• Check the process that initiated the query.
• Investigate the LDAP search query for any suspicious indicators.