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Certutil exe certificate extraction

The following analytic identifies the use of certutil.exe with arguments indicating the manipulation or extraction of certificates. It leverages data from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents, focusing on…

Description

The following analytic identifies the use of certutil.exe with arguments indicating the manipulation or extraction of certificates. It leverages data from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents, focusing on process names and command-line arguments. This activity is significant because extracting certificates can allow attackers to sign new authentication tokens, particularly in federated environments like Windows ADFS. If confirmed malicious, this could enable attackers to forge authentication tokens, potentially leading to unauthorized access and privilege escalation within the network.

Detection logic

Detection requirements

Platform
Identity ProviderLinuxmacOSWindows

The rule states no platform. This is derived from the ATT&CK technique it maps to.

Known benign triggers

  • Unless there are specific use cases, manipulating or exporting certificates using certutil is uncommon. Extraction of certificate has been observed during attacks such as Golden SAML and other campaigns targeting Federated services.

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