Logon Logoff Event: 4648

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The Who, Where and When information is very important for an administrator to have complete knowledge of all activities that occur on their Active Directory. This helps them identify any desired / undesired activity happening. ADAudit Plus assists an administrator with this information in the form of reports. In real-time, ensure critical resources in the network like the Domain Controllers are audited, monitored and reported with the entire information on AD objects - Users, Groups, GPO, Computer, OU, DNS, AD Schema and Configuration changes with 200+ detailed event specific GUI reports and email alerts.

Logon Logoff » Logon Logoff Event: 4648

Event ID 4648 – A Logon Was Attempted Using Explicit Credentials

Event ID 4648
Category Logon/Logoff
Sub-Category Audit Logon
Type Success Audit
Description A logon was attempted using explicit credentials

When an account logon is attempted by a process by explicitly specifying the credentials of that account, event 4648 is generated. This is usually generated by batch-type configurations. It is also generated periodically during normal operating system activity as a routine event.

This log data provides the following information:

  • Security ID
  • Account Name
  • Account Domain
  • Logon ID
  • Logon GUID
  • Target Server Name
  • Additional Information (Target Server)
  • Process ID
  • Process Name
  • Network Address
  • Port

Why does event ID 4648 need to be monitored?

  • To keep tabs on the processes reported in this event
  • To monitor how and when a particular account is being used
  • To monitor actions of high value accounts
  • To detect anomalies and malicious actions
  • To ensure non-active, external, and restricted accounts are not used
  • To ensure that only white-listed accounts perform certain specific actions
  • To enforce conventions and compliances

Pro Tip:

With in-depth reports, real-time alerts, and graphical displays, ADAudit Plus tracks successful logon attempts by local users, helping you meet your security, operational, and compliance needs with absolute ease.

Event 4648 applies to the following operating systems:

  • Windows 2008 R2 and 7
  • Windows 2012 R2 and 8.1
  • Windows 2016 and 10

Corresponding events in Windows 2003 and before: 552.