Name:ESXi Bulk VM Termination id:cfe094b4-0737-4a33-9d63-e0562ce2b883 version:5 date:None author:Raven Tait, Splunk status:production type:TTP Description:The following analytic detects when all virtual machines on an ESXi host are abruptly terminated, which may indicate malicious activity such as a deliberate denial-of-service, ransomware staging, or an attempt to destroy critical workloads. Data_source:
-VMWare ESXi Syslog
search:`esxi_syslog` Message IN ( "*pkill -9 *", "*process kill*" ) | rex field=_raw "\s\[(?<user>[^\]]+)\]:\s(?<shell_command>.+)$" | rex field=_raw "Z (?<dest>[\w\.]+)\s.*:\s(?<esxicli_Command>esxcli\s.+)" | eval command=mvappend(esxicli_Command, shell_Command) | where isnotnull(command) | search (command="pkill -9 vmx-*") OR ( command="*esxcli*" command="*--format-param*" command="*vm process list*" command="*awk*" command="*esxcli vm process kill*" ) | stats min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime values(_time) as timeStamp values(command) as commands
how_to_implement:This is based on syslog data generated by VMware ESXi hosts. To implement this search, you must configure your ESXi systems to forward syslog output to your Splunk deployment. These logs must be ingested with the appropriate Splunk Technology Add-on for VMware ESXi Logs, which provides field extractions and CIM compatibility. known_false_positives:No false positives have been identified at this time. References: -https://www.securityweek.com/microsoft-says-ransomware-gangs-exploiting-just-patched-vmware-esxi-flaw/ drilldown_searches: name:'View the detection results for - "$dest$"' search:'%original_detection_search% | search dest = "$dest$"' earliest_offset:'$info_min_time$' latest_offset:'$info_max_time$' name:'View risk events for the last 7 days for - "$dest$"' search:'| from datamodel Risk.All_Risk | search normalized_risk_object IN ("$dest$") | stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime values(search_name) as "Search Name" values(risk_message) as "Risk Message" values(analyticstories) as "Analytic Stories" values(annotations._all) as "Annotations" values(annotations.mitre_attack.mitre_tactic) as "ATT&CK Tactics" by normalized_risk_object | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`' earliest_offset:'7d' latest_offset:'0' analytic_story:['ESXi Post Compromise', 'Black Basta Ransomware']
