Inquiry Regarding Multiple 4624 Event ID Logs for Single User Login

Question

Hello Team,

I am reaching out to inquire about a matter related to our Windows Security logs. Specifically, we have observed multiple instances of Event ID 4624 being logged for a single user login event in the Security Events table.

As part of our security monitoring efforts, we closely track user logins using the Event ID 4624, which signifies a successful user login. However, we have noticed that in some cases, a single user login triggers multiple Event ID 4624 logs within a short timeframe.

We understand that Event ID 4624 is typically logged when a user successfully logs into their account, and multiple logs for a single login event raise concerns about potential security issues or system misconfigurations. Therefore, we would greatly appreciate your assistance in helping us understand the reasons behind this behavior.

Could you please provide insights into why multiple Event ID 4624 logs might be generated for a single user login event? We are particularly interested in understanding if this behavior is expected under certain circumstances, such as session reconnects, cached credentials usage, or any other system-related factors.

Additionally, if there are any best practices or recommended configurations to ensure accurate logging of user login events while minimizing duplicate entries, we would be eager to implement them in our environment.

Any guidance or information you can provide on this matter would be immensely valuable to us as we strive to maintain the security and integrity of our systems.

Thanks & Regards,
Sri Sai Teja Palle.

Answer 1

Hello

Thank you for posting in Q&A forum.

For a single user logon event, it is not uncommon to observe behavior with multiple event ID 4624 logs. This is because Windows logs the event ID 4624 at the beginning of each logon session.

A single user logon triggers multiple event ID 4624 for several reasons:

1. Multiple attempts: If the user tries to enter the username and password multiple times, an event ID 4624 will be generated for each successful attempt. In this case, you can determine if it was caused by multiple attempts by looking at the event details.
2. Different login types: Windows supports a variety of login types, such as interactive, network, service, batch, etc. If the user logs in differently, an event ID 4624 might be generated for each type.
3. Session switching: If a user logs in in one session and then switches to another session (e.g. from a physical console to a remote desktop session), an event ID 4624 may be generated for each session.
4. Credential caching: If a user's credentials are cached and they use a different session or machine to log in, an event ID 4624 may be generated for each login that uses cached credentials.
5. System Errors or Configuration Issues: including, but not limited to, corrupted system files, Event Viewer service failures, faulty Windows updates, which may interfere with normal logging mechanisms, resulting in inaccurate or duplicate event recording.

If you want to fix multiple log entries for Event 4624 on your Windows computer, we recommend referring to the following links:

Fixed: Several Log Entries of Event ID 4624 (Logon ID 0x3e7) - NEXTOFWINDOWS.COM

I hope the information above is helpful.

Best Regards,

Yanhong Liu

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