5144 Security log · Object Access low severity low volume

Windows Event ID 5144 — A network share object was deleted

A network share was removed.

Why event 5144 matters

Deletion of shares after staging data for exfiltration (cleanup). Or sabotage of legitimate shares.

How to detect it

Alert: deletion of critical business shares.

Log source
Security
Advanced Audit Policy — enable the 'Object Access' subcategory (Success and/or Failure).
Fields to pivot on
SubjectUserNameTargetUserNameLogonTypeIpAddressWorkstationName

Detection queries

Starting points — adapt the log source, projected fields and thresholds for your environment.

Sentinel / Defender KQL
SecurityEvent
| where EventID == 5144   // A network share object was deleted
| project TimeGenerated, Computer, SubjectUserName, TargetUserName, LogonType, IpAddress, WorkstationName
| sort by TimeGenerated desc
Splunk SPL
index=* sourcetype="WinEventLog:Security" EventCode=5144
| stats count earliest(_time) as first_seen latest(_time) as last_seen by ComputerName
| sort - count   `# A network share object was deleted — add EventData fields: SubjectUserName, TargetUserName, LogonType, IpAddress`
Hunt event 5144 in Sentinel/Defender →
Build a KQL query for this event in the KQL Query Builder.
Search all event IDs →
Open the interactive Windows Event ID lookup.

Related Object Access events

4656 A handle to an object was requested 4657 A registry value was modified 4658 The handle to an object was closed 4660 An object was deleted 4663 An attempt was made to access an object 4665 An attempt was made to create an application client context 4670 Permissions on an object were changed 4690 An attempt was made to duplicate a handle to an object 4985 The state of a transaction has changed 5140 A network share object was accessed 5142 A network share object was added 5143 A network share object was modified

Frequently asked questions

What is Windows Event ID 5144?

A network share object was deleted. A network share was removed.

Which log records event 5144?

Event 5144 is written to the Security channel by Microsoft-Windows-Security-Auditing. Advanced Audit Policy — enable the 'Object Access' subcategory (Success and/or Failure).

How do you detect activity around event 5144?

Alert: deletion of critical business shares.