Attempts to Brute Force an Okta User Account

[metadata]
creation_date = "2020/08/19"
integration = ["okta"]
maturity = "production"
updated_date = "2026/04/10"

[rule]
author = ["Elastic", "@BenB196", "Austin Songer"]
description = """
Identifies when an Okta user account is locked out 3 times within a 3 hour window. An adversary may attempt a brute
force or password spraying attack to obtain unauthorized access to user accounts. The default Okta authentication policy
ensures that a user account is locked out after 10 failed authentication attempts.
"""
from = "now-180m"
index = ["filebeat-*", "logs-okta*"]
language = "kuery"
license = "Elastic License v2"
name = "Attempts to Brute Force an Okta User Account"
note = """## Triage and analysis

### Investigating Attempts to Brute Force an Okta User Account

Brute force attacks aim to guess user credentials through exhaustive trial-and-error attempts. In this context, Okta accounts are targeted.

This rule fires when an Okta user account has been locked out 3 times within a 3-hour window. This could indicate an attempted brute force or password spraying attack to gain unauthorized access to the user account. Okta's default authentication policy locks a user account after 10 failed authentication attempts.

#### Possible investigation steps:

- Identify the actor related to the alert by reviewing `okta.actor.alternate_id` field in the alert. This should give the username of the account being targeted.
- Review the `okta.event_type` field to understand the nature of the events that led to the account lockout.
- Check the `okta.severity` and `okta.display_message` fields for more context around the lockout events.
- Look for correlation of events from the same IP address. Multiple lockouts from the same IP address might indicate a single source for the attack.
- If the IP is not familiar, investigate it. The IP could be a proxy, VPN, Tor node, cloud datacenter, or a legitimate IP turned malicious.
- Determine if the lockout events occurred during the user's regular activity hours. Unusual timing may indicate malicious activity.
- Examine the authentication methods used during the lockout events by checking the `okta.authentication_context.credential_type` field.

### False positive analysis:

- Determine whether the account owner or an internal user made repeated mistakes in entering their credentials, leading to the account lockout.
- Ensure there are no known network or application issues that might cause these events.

### Response and remediation:

- Alert the user and your IT department immediately.
- If unauthorized access is confirmed, initiate your incident response process.
- Investigate the source of the attack. If a specific machine or network is compromised, additional steps may need to be taken to address the issue.
- Require the affected user to change their password.
- If the attack is ongoing, consider blocking the IP address initiating the brute force attack.
- Implement account lockout policies to limit the impact of brute force attacks.
- Encourage users to use complex, unique passwords and consider implementing multi-factor authentication.
- Check if the compromised account was used to access or alter any sensitive data or systems.

## Setup

The Okta Fleet integration, Filebeat module, or similarly structured data is required to be compatible with this rule."""
references = [
    "https://developer.okta.com/docs/reference/api/system-log/",
    "https://developer.okta.com/docs/reference/api/event-types/",
    "https://www.elastic.co/security-labs/testing-okta-visibility-and-detection-dorothy",
    "https://www.elastic.co/security-labs/monitoring-okta-threats-with-elastic-security",
    "https://www.elastic.co/security-labs/starter-guide-to-understanding-okta",
]
risk_score = 47
rule_id = "e08ccd49-0380-4b2b-8d71-8000377d6e49"
severity = "medium"
tags = [
    "Use Case: Identity and Access Audit",
    "Tactic: Credential Access",
    "Data Source: Okta",
    "Resources: Investigation Guide",
]
timestamp_override = "event.ingested"
type = "threshold"

query = '''
data_stream.dataset:okta.system and event.action:user.account.lock
'''


[[rule.threat]]
framework = "MITRE ATT&CK"

[[rule.threat.technique]]
id = "T1110"
name = "Brute Force"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1110/"

[[rule.threat.technique.subtechnique]]
id = "T1110.001"
name = "Password Guessing"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1110/001/"

[[rule.threat.technique.subtechnique]]
id = "T1110.003"
name = "Password Spraying"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1110/003/"

[rule.threat.tactic]
id = "TA0006"
name = "Credential Access"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0006/"
[rule.threshold]
field = ["okta.actor.alternate_id"]
value = 3