huntrule

Windows Security: checkadmin.exe TargetUserName starting with Administr (Event ID 4799)

Detects Windows Security Event 4799 where checkadmin.exe targets “Administr*” accounts, consistent with admin account enumeration.

FreeReviewedSigma · High · v5
Product
windows
Service
security
Author
Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), frack113 (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2019-12-20
Updated
2026-07-31
AnalysisDetection

ATT&CK techniques

Execution → Discovery

  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Initial Access

  4. Execution

  5. Persistence

  6. Priv Esc

  7. Defense Evasion

  8. Cred Access

  9. Discovery

  10. Lateral Movement

  11. Collection

  12. C2

  13. Exfiltration

  14. Impact

What it detects

This rule flags Windows Security events (Event ID 4799) where the TargetUserName begins with "Administr" and the CallerProcessName ends with "\checkadmin.exe". Such activity can indicate attempts to discover or enumerate local administrator accounts, which is useful for follow-on privilege escalation and persistence. It relies on Windows Security auditing telemetry that records the caller process and the target account involved in the operation.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1059.001 — drag to rearrange
Windows process command lines matching May 2020 Turla ComRAT command patterns
Malicious FIN7 Powertrash Loader Execution via Obfuscated PowerShell (via process_creation)
Suspicious XOR Obfuscated PowerShell from ClickFix Distribution
Suspicious PowerShell Executing Code from Environment Variable (via process_creation)
Suspicious In-Memory Runspace Execution via PowerShell Script Block
Suspicious Encoded PowerShell Using Base64 Stream Decompression Routines (via process_creation)
Suspicious PowerShell In-Memory Execution with AES Decryption
Suspicious Encoded PowerShell Command Execution
Suspicious Scheduled Task Launching rundll32 DLL via Ransomware
Windows Security: checkadmin.exe TargetUserName starting with Administr (Event ID 4799)
Pivot detection · T1059.001 · 9 related

Changelog

v5
  1. v5
    Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
  2. v4
    Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
  3. v3
    Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
  4. v2
    Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
  5. v1
    No changelog recorded for this version.2026-07-30

Detection content is published as a reviewed draft. Tune thresholds and exclusions against your own telemetry before enabling this rule for alerting.