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Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills/skills/hunting-for-ntlm-relay-attacks/SKILL.md
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Mahipal 2fb6a9faff Rewrite 548 skill descriptions to the activation rubric
Each rewritten description now states both what the skill does (concrete
capability, named tools/artifacts) and an explicit when-to-use trigger,
improving agent discovery/activation. Grounded in each skill's own body;
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Schema: 817/817 pass. Framework-ID gate: 0 defects.
2026-08-02 09:32:13 -07:00

2.8 KiB

name, description, domain, subdomain, tags, version, author, license, d3fend_techniques, nist_csf, mitre_attack
name description domain subdomain tags version author license d3fend_techniques nist_csf mitre_attack
hunting-for-ntlm-relay-attacks Detects NTLM relay attacks (MITRE T1557.001) by analyzing Windows Event ID 4624 logon type 3 with NTLMSSP authentication, flagging IP-to-hostname mismatches, Responder/LLMNR poisoning signatures, SMB signing status, and anomalous cross-domain authentication patterns. Use when investigating credential-relay activity in Active Directory or building detections for NTLM relay and coercion-based attacks. cybersecurity threat-hunting
NTLM-relay
Windows-events
Event-4624
NTLMSSP
Responder
SMB-signing
credential-access
T1557.001
Active-Directory
1.0 mahipal Apache-2.0
Application Protocol Command Analysis
Network Isolation
Network Traffic Analysis
Client-server Payload Profiling
Network Traffic Community Deviation
DE.CM-01
DE.AE-02
DE.AE-07
ID.RA-05
T1046
T1057
T1082
T1083
T1003

Hunting for NTLM Relay Attacks

Overview

NTLM relay attacks intercept and forward NTLM authentication messages to gain unauthorized access to network resources. Attackers use tools like Responder for LLMNR/NBT-NS poisoning and ntlmrelayx for credential relay. This skill detects relay activity by querying Windows Security Event 4624 (successful logon) for type 3 network logons with NTLMSSP authentication, identifying mismatches between WorkstationName and source IpAddress, detecting rapid multi-host authentication from single accounts, and auditing SMB signing configuration across domain hosts.

When to Use

  • When investigating security incidents that require hunting for ntlm relay attacks
  • When building detection rules or threat hunting queries for this domain
  • When SOC analysts need structured procedures for this analysis type
  • When validating security monitoring coverage for related attack techniques

Prerequisites

  • Python 3.9+ with Windows Event Log access or exported logs
  • Windows Security audit logging enabled (Event ID 4624, 4625, 5145)
  • Network access for SMB signing status checks

Key Detection Areas

  1. IP-hostname mismatch — WorkstationName in Event 4624 does not resolve to the source IpAddress
  2. NTLMSSP authentication — logon events using NTLM instead of Kerberos from domain-joined hosts
  3. Machine account relay — computer accounts (ending in $) authenticating from unexpected IPs
  4. Rapid authentication — single account authenticating to multiple hosts within seconds
  5. Named pipe access — Event 5145 showing access to Spoolss, lsarpc, netlogon, samr pipes
  6. SMB signing disabled — hosts not enforcing SMB signing, enabling relay attacks

Output

JSON report with suspected relay events, IP-hostname correlation anomalies, SMB signing audit results, and MITRE ATT&CK mapping to T1557.001.