Name:Linux PHP Privilege Escalation id:4fc4c031-e5be-4cc0-8cf9-49f9f507bcb5 version:4 date:2024-09-30 author:Gowthamaraj Rajendran, Splunk status:production type:Anomaly Description:The following analytic detects the execution of PHP commands with elevated privileges on a Linux system. It identifies instances where PHP is used in conjunction with 'sudo' and 'system' commands, indicating an attempt to run system commands as the root user. This detection leverages data from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents, focusing on process command-line arguments. This activity is significant because it can indicate an attempt to escalate privileges, potentially leading to full root access. If confirmed malicious, this could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary commands with root privileges, compromising the entire system. Data_source:
-Sysmon for Linux EventID 1
search:| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime from datamodel=Endpoint.Processes where Processes.process="*php*-r*" AND Processes.process="*system*" AND Processes.process="*sudo*" by Processes.dest Processes.user Processes.parent_process_name Processes.process_name Processes.process Processes.process_id Processes.parent_process_id Processes.process_guid | `drop_dm_object_name(Processes)` | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` | `linux_php_privilege_escalation_filter`
how_to_implement:The detection is based on data that originates from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents. These agents are designed to provide security-related telemetry from the endpoints where the agent is installed. To implement this search, you must ingest logs that contain the process GUID, process name, and parent process. Additionally, you must ingest complete command-line executions. These logs must be processed using the appropriate Splunk Technology Add-ons that are specific to the EDR product. The logs must also be mapped to the `Processes` node of the `Endpoint` data model. Use the Splunk Common Information Model (CIM) to normalize the field names and speed up the data modeling process. known_false_positives:False positives may be present, filter as needed. References: -https://gtfobins.github.io/gtfobins/php/ -https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PHP 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 ("$dest$") starthoursago=168 | 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:'$info_min_time$' latest_offset:'$info_max_time$' tags: analytic_story: - 'Linux Privilege Escalation' - 'Linux Living Off The Land' asset_type:Endpoint confidence:50 impact:60 message:An instance of $parent_process_name$ spawning $process_name$ was identified on endpoint $dest$ mitre_attack_id: - 'T1548.003' - 'T1548' observable: name:'dest' type:'Hostname' - role: - 'Victim' name:'parent_process_name' type:'Process' - role: - 'Attacker' name:'process_name' type:'Process' - role: - 'Attacker' product: - 'Splunk Enterprise' - 'Splunk Enterprise Security' - 'Splunk Cloud' required_fields: - '_time' - 'Processes.dest' - 'Processes.user' - 'Processes.parent_process_name' - 'Processes.process_name' - 'Processes.process' - 'Processes.process_id' - 'Processes.parent_process_id' risk_score:30 security_domain:endpoint