Cisco ASA - Core Syslog Message Volume Drop: networkNetworkNoneversion:5
Adversaries may intentionally suppress or reduce the volume of core Cisco ASA syslog messages to evade detection or cover their tracks. This hunting search is recommended to proactively identify suspicious downward shifts or absences in key syslog message IDs, which may indicate tampering or malicious activity. Visualizing this data in Splunk dashboards enables security teams to quickly spot anomalies and investigate potential compromise.
Cisco ASA - Device File Copy Activity: networkNetworkNoneversion:5
This analytic detects file copy activity on Cisco ASA devices via CLI or ASDM.
Adversaries may copy device files including configurations, logs, packet captures, or system files for reconnaissance, credential extraction, or data exfiltration. While legitimate file operations occur during backups and maintenance, unauthorized copies may indicate malicious activity.
The detection monitors for command execution events (message ID 111008 or 111010) containing copy commands targeting running-config, startup-config, packet capture files, or other system files from disk0:, flash:, system:, or capture: locations.
Investigate unexpected file copies, especially from non-administrative accounts, during unusual hours, or when combined with other suspicious activities.
Cisco ASA - Logging Message Suppression: networkNetworkNoneversion:6
This analytic detects suppression of specific logging messages on Cisco ASA devices using the "no logging message" command.
Adversaries may suppress specific log message IDs to selectively disable logging of security-critical events such as authentication failures, configuration changes, or suspicious network activity. This targeted approach allows attackers to evade detection while maintaining normal logging operations that might otherwise alert administrators to complete logging disablement.
The detection monitors for command execution events (message ID 111008 or 111010) containing the "no logging message" command, which is used to suppress specific message IDs from being logged regardless of the configured severity level.
Investigate unauthorized message suppression, especially suppression of security-critical message IDs (authentication, authorization, configuration changes), suppression performed by non-administrative accounts, during unusual hours, or without documented justification.
Cisco ASA - User Privilege Level Change: networkNetworkNoneversion:5
This analytic detects privilege level changes for user accounts on Cisco ASA devices via CLI or ASDM.
Adversaries may escalate account privileges to gain elevated access to network infrastructure, enable additional command execution capabilities, or establish higher-level persistent access. Privilege levels on Cisco ASA range from 0 (lowest) to 15 (full administrative access), with level 15 providing complete device control.
The detection monitors for ASA message ID 502103, which is generated whenever a user account's privilege level is modified, capturing both the old and new privilege levels along with the username and administrator who made the change.
Investigate unexpected privilege changes, especially escalations to level 15, substantial privilege increases (e.g., from level 1 to 15), changes performed outside business hours, changes by non-administrative users, or changes without corresponding change management tickets.
Cisco ASA - Packet Capture Activity: networkNetworkNoneversion:5
This analytic detects execution of packet capture commands on Cisco ASA devices via CLI or ASDM.
Adversaries may abuse the built-in packet capture functionality to perform network sniffing, intercept credentials transmitted over the network, capture sensitive data in transit, or gather intelligence about network traffic patterns and internal communications. Packet captures can reveal usernames, passwords, session tokens, and confidential business data.
The detection monitors for command execution events (message ID 111008 or 111010) containing "capture" commands, which are used to initiate packet capture sessions on specific interfaces or for specific traffic patterns on the ASA device.
Investigate unauthorized packet capture activities, especially captures targeting sensitive interfaces (internal network segments, DMZ), captures configured to capture large volumes of traffic, captures with suspicious filter criteria, captures initiated by non-administrative accounts, or captures during unusual hours.
Cisco ASA - Device File Copy to Remote Location: networkNetworkNoneversion:5
This analytic detects file copy operations to remote locations on Cisco ASA devices via CLI or ASDM.
Adversaries may exfiltrate device files including configurations, logs, packet captures, or system data to remote servers using protocols like TFTP, FTP, HTTP, HTTPS, SMB, or SCP. While legitimate backups to centralized servers are common, copies to unexpected destinations may indicate data exfiltration to attacker-controlled infrastructure.
The detection monitors for command execution events (message ID 111008 or 111010) containing copy commands with remote protocol indicators (tftp:, ftp:, http:, https:, smb:, scp:).
Investigate copies to unexpected destinations, from non-administrative accounts, or outside approved maintenance windows.
We recommend adapting the detection filters to exclude known legitimate backup activities.
Cisco Secure Firewall - Intrusion Events by Threat Activity: networkNetworkNoneversion:10
This analytic detects intrusion events from known threat activity using Cisco Secure Firewall Intrusion Events.
It leverages Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense IntrusionEvent logs to identify cases where one or multiple Snort signatures
associated with a known threat or threat actor activity have been triggered within a one-hour time window. The detection uses a
lookup table (cisco_snort_ids_to_threat_mapping) to map Snort signature IDs to known threat actors and their techniques.
When multiple signatures associated with the same threat actor are triggered within the time window, and the count of
unique signatures matches or exceeds the expected number of signatures for that threat technique, an alert is generated.
This helps identify potential coordinated threat activity in your network environment by correlating related intrusion
events that occur in close temporal proximity.
Currently, this detection will alert on the following threat actors or malware families as defined in the cisco_snort_ids_to_threat_mapping lookup:
* AgentTesla
* Amadey
* ArcaneDoor
* AsyncRAT
* CastleRAT
* Chafer
* DCRAT
* LokiBot
* Lumma Stealer
* Nobelium
* Quasar
* Remcos
* Snake
* Static Tundra
* Xworm
To add or update threat actors, update the cisco_snort_ids_to_threat_mapping.csv lookup file with new or modified threat names and associated Snort signature IDs.