Elastic Security Detection Rules

Microsoft IIS Service Account Password Dumped

Last updated 2 days ago on 2026-04-21
Created 6 years ago on 2020-08-18

About

Identifies the Internet Information Services (IIS) command-line tool, AppCmd, being used to dump sensitive configuration data such as application pool credentials. An attacker with IIS web server access via a web shell can extract service account passwords by requesting full configuration output or targeting credential-related fields.
Tags
Domain: EndpointOS: WindowsUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: Credential AccessData Source: Elastic EndgameData Source: Elastic DefendData Source: Windows Security Event LogsData Source: Microsoft Defender XDRData Source: SysmonData Source: SentinelOneData Source: CrowdstrikeLanguage: eql
Severity
low
Risk Score
21
MITRE ATT&CK™

Credential Access (TA0006)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

↳ OS Credential Dumping (T1003)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

↳ Unsecured Credentials (T1552)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

License
Elastic License v2(external, opens in a new tab or window)

Definition

Rule Type
Event Correlation Rule
Integration Pack
Prebuilt Security Detection Rules
Index Patterns
endgame-*logs-crowdstrike.fdr*logs-endpoint.events.process-*logs-m365_defender.event-*logs-sentinel_one_cloud_funnel.*logs-system.security*logs-windows.forwarded*logs-windows.sysmon_operational-*winlogbeat-*
Related Integrations

endpoint(external, opens in a new tab or window)

windows(external, opens in a new tab or window)

system(external, opens in a new tab or window)

m365_defender(external, opens in a new tab or window)

sentinel_one_cloud_funnel(external, opens in a new tab or window)

crowdstrike(external, opens in a new tab or window)

Query
text code block:
process where host.os.type == "windows" and event.type == "start" and
   (process.name : "appcmd.exe" or ?process.pe.original_file_name == "appcmd.exe") and
   process.args : "list" and
   (
     process.args : ("/text:*password*", "/text:*processModel*", "/text:*userName*", "/config", "*connectionstring*") or
     process.args == "/text:*"
   )

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect Microsoft IIS Service Account Password Dumped in the Elastic Security detection engine by installing this rule into your Elastic Stack.

To setup this rule, check out the installation guide for Prebuilt Security Detection Rules(external, opens in a new tab or window).