Name:O365 Suspicious User Email Forwarding id:f8dfe015-dbb3-4569-ba75-b13787e06aa4 version:3 date:2024-10-17 author:Patrick Bareiss, Splunk status:deprecated type:Anomaly Description:**DEPRECATION NOTE** - This search has been deprecated and replaced with `O365 Mailbox Email Forwarding Enabled`. The following analytic detects when multiple users have configured a forwarding rule to the same destination to proactively identify and investigate potential security risks related to email forwarding and take appropriate actions to protect the organizations data and prevent unauthorized access or data breaches. This detection is made by a Splunk query to O365 management activity logs with the operation `Set-Mailbox` to gather information about mailbox configurations. Then, the query uses the `spath` function to extract the parameters and rename the "Identity" field as "src_user" and searches for entries where the "ForwardingSmtpAddress" field is not empty, which indicates the presence of a forwarding rule. Next, the analytic uses the `stats` command to group the results by the forwarding email address and count the number of unique source users (`src_user`). Finally, it filters the results and only retains entries where the count of source users (`count_src_user`) is greater than 1, which indicates that multiple users have set up forwarding rules to the same destination. This detection is important because it suggests that multiple users are forwarding emails to the same destination without proper authorization, which can lead to the exposure of sensitive information, loss of data control, or unauthorized access to confidential emails. Investigating and addressing this issue promptly can help prevent data breaches and mitigate potential damage.indicates a potential security risk since multiple users forwarding emails to the same destination can be a sign of unauthorized access, data exfiltration, or a compromised account. Additionally, it also helps to determine if the forwarding rules are legitimate or if they indicate a security incident. False positives can occur if there are legitimate reasons for multiple users to forward emails to the same destination, such as a shared mailbox or a team collaboration scenario. Next steps include further investigation and context analysis to determine the legitimacy of the forwarding rules. Data_source:
search:`o365_management_activity` Operation=Set-Mailbox | spath input=Parameters | rename Identity AS src_user | search ForwardingSmtpAddress=* | stats dc(src_user) AS count_src_user earliest(_time) as firstTime latest(_time) as lastTime values(src_user) AS src_user values(user) AS user by ForwardingSmtpAddress | where count_src_user > 1 |`security_content_ctime(firstTime)` |`security_content_ctime(lastTime)` |`o365_suspicious_user_email_forwarding_filter`
how_to_implement:You must install splunk Microsoft Office 365 add-on. This search works with o365:management:activity known_false_positives:unknown References: drilldown_searches:
: tags: analytic_story: - 'Office 365 Collection Techniques' - 'Data Exfiltration' asset_type:O365 Tenant confidence:60 impact:80 message:User $user$ configured multiple users $src_user$ with a count of $count_src_user$, a forwarding rule to same destination $ForwardingSmtpAddress$ mitre_attack_id: - 'T1114.003' - 'T1114' observable: name:'user' type:'User' - role: - 'Victim' name:'ForwardingSmtpAddress' type:'Email Address' - role: - 'Attacker' product: - 'Splunk Enterprise' - 'Splunk Enterprise Security' - 'Splunk Cloud' required_fields: - '_time' - 'Operation' - 'Parameters' risk_score:48 security_domain:threat
