Home/ATT&CK Technique/Log Enumeration
ATT&CK Technique

Log Enumeration

T1654 · discovery

Adversaries may enumerate system and service logs to find useful data. These logs may highlight various types of valuable insights for an adversary, such as user authentication records (Account Discovery), security or vulnerable software (Software Discovery), or hosts within a compromised network (Remote System Discovery). Host binaries may be leveraged to collect system logs.

Examples include using wevtutil.exe or PowerShell on Windows to access and/or export security event information. In cloud environments, adversaries may leverage utilities such as the Azure VM Agent’s CollectGuestLogs.exe to collect security logs from cloud hosted infrastructure. Adversaries may also target centralized logging infrastructure such as SIEMs.

Logs may also be bulk exported and sent to adversary-controlled infrastructure for offline analysis. In addition to gaining a better understanding of the environment, adversaries may also monitor logs in real time to track incident response procedures. This may allow them to adjust their techniques in order to maintain persistence or evade defenses.

ESXiIaaSLinuxmacOSWindows
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Actors Using This

1
chinaVolt Typhoon
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Atomic Tests

2
Executable Atomic Red Team test cases for exercising this technique in a lab. Copy a command, run it on the listed platform, confirm your detections fire.
powershellelevatedwindowsGet-EventLog To Enumerate Windows Security Log
Uses the built-in PowerShell commandlet Get-EventLog to search for 'SYSTEM' keyword and saves results to a text file. This technique was observed in a [TheDFIRReport case](https://thedfirreport.com/2023/04/03/malicious-iso-file-leads-to-domain-wide-ransomware/) where the threat actor enumerated the Windows Security audit log to determine user accounts and associated IPv4 addresses. Successful execution will save matching log events to the users temp folder.
powershell -c {get-eventlog 'Security' | where {$_.Message -like '*SYSTEM*'} | export-csv $env:temp\T1654_events.txt}
command_promptwindowsEnumerate Windows Security Log via WevtUtil
WevtUtil is a command line tool that can be utilised by adversaries to gather intelligence on a targeted Windows system's logging infrastructure. By executing this command, malicious actors can enumerate all available event logs, including both default logs such as Application, Security, and System as well as any custom logs created by administrators. This information provides valuable insight into the system's logging mechanisms, potentially allowing attackers to identify gaps or weaknesses in the logging configuration
wevtutil enum-logs
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Mitigations

1
MITRE ATT&CK mitigations - vendor-agnostic guidance for reducing exposure to this technique.
M1018User Account Management

User Account Management involves implementing and enforcing policies for the lifecycle of user accounts, including creation, modification, and deactivation. Proper account management reduces the attack surface by limiting unauthorized access, managing account privileges, and ensuring accounts are used according to organizational policies.

Enforcing the Principle of Least Privilege
  • Implementation: Assign users only the minimum permissions required to perform their job functions. Regularly audit accounts to ensure no excess permissions are granted.
  • Use Case: Reduces the risk of privilege escalation by ensuring accounts cannot perform unauthorized actions. Implementing Strong Password Policies.
  • Implementation: Enforce password complexity requirements (e.g., length, character types). Require password expiration every 90 days and disallow password reuse.
  • Use Case: Prevents adversaries from gaining unauthorized access through password guessing or brute force attacks. Managing Dormant and Orphaned Accounts.
  • Implementation: Implement automated workflows to disable accounts after a set period of inactivity (e.g., 30 days). Remove orphaned accounts (e.g., accounts without an assigned owner) during regular account audits.
  • Use Case: Eliminates dormant accounts that could be exploited by attackers. Account Lockout Policies.
  • Implementation: Configure account lockout thresholds (e.g., lock accounts after five failed login attempts). Set lockout durations to a minimum of 15 minutes.
  • Use Case: Mitigates automated attack techniques that rely on repeated login attempts. Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for High-Risk Accounts.
  • Implementation: Require MFA for all administrative accounts and high-risk users. Use MFA mechanisms like hardware tokens, authenticator apps, or biometrics.
  • Use Case: Prevents unauthorized access, even if credentials are stolen. Restricting Interactive Logins.
  • Implementation: Restrict interactive logins for privileged accounts to specific secure systems or management consoles. Use group policies to enforce logon restrictions.
  • Use Case: Protects sensitive accounts from misuse or exploitation.
Tools for Implementation Built-in Tools
  • Microsoft Active Directory (AD): Centralized account management and RBAC enforcement.
  • Group Policy Object (GPO): Enforce password policies, logon restrictions, and account lockout policies.
Identity and Access Management (IAM) Tools
  • Okta: Centralized user provisioning, MFA, and SSO integration.
  • Microsoft Azure Active Directory: Provides advanced account lifecycle management, role-based access, and conditional access policies.
Privileged Account Management (PAM)
  • CyberArk, BeyondTrust, Thycotic: Manage and monitor privileged account usage, enforce session recording, and JIT access.
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Detection Coverage

0/6 layers
Coverage across standard detection surfaces. Rows marked none have no rule of that type mapped. Some are real blind spots worth closing; others are simply not applicable to this technique (e.g. YARA matches malware files, not network behaviour).
Behavioral / log (Sigma) none
Analytics (MITRE CAR) none
Runtime / container (Falco) none
File / malware (YARA) none
Network (Suricata/Snort) none
Vuln scan (Nuclei) none
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