Windows Command and Scripting Interpreter Hunting Path Traversal

Name:Windows Command and Scripting Interpreter Hunting Path Traversal
id:d0026380-b3c4-4da0-ac8e-02790063ff6b
version:5
date:2024-11-13
author:Teoderick Contreras, Michael Haag, Splunk
status:production
type:Hunting
Description:The following analytic identifies path traversal command-line executions, leveraging data from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents. It detects patterns in command-line arguments indicative of path traversal techniques, such as multiple instances of "/..", "\..", or "\\..". This activity is significant as it often indicates attempts to evade defenses by executing malicious code, such as through msdt.exe. If confirmed malicious, this behavior could allow attackers to execute arbitrary code, potentially leading to system compromise, data exfiltration, or further lateral movement within the network.
Data_source:

• -Sysmon EventID 1
• -Windows Event Log Security 4688
• -CrowdStrike ProcessRollup2

search:| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime FROM datamodel=Endpoint.Processes by Processes.action Processes.dest Processes.original_file_name Processes.parent_process Processes.parent_process_exec Processes.parent_process_guid Processes.parent_process_id Processes.parent_process_name Processes.parent_process_path Processes.process Processes.process_exec Processes.process_guid Processes.process_hash Processes.process_id Processes.process_integrity_level Processes.process_name Processes.process_path Processes.user Processes.user_id Processes.vendor_product
| `drop_dm_object_name("Processes")`
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
| eval count_of_pattern1 = (mvcount(split(process,"/.."))-1)
| eval count_of_pattern2 = (mvcount(split(process,"\.."))-1)
| eval count_of_pattern3 = (mvcount(split(process,"\\.."))-1)
| eval count_of_pattern4 = (mvcount(split(process,"//.."))-1)
| search count_of_pattern1 > 1 OR count_of_pattern2 > 1 OR count_of_pattern3 > 1 OR count_of_pattern4 > 1
| `windows_command_and_scripting_interpreter_hunting_path_traversal_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 positive may vary depends on the score you want to check. The bigger number of path traversal string count the better.
References:
  -https://app.any.run/tasks/713f05d2-fe78-4b9d-a744-f7c133e3fafb/
drilldown_searches:
  :
tags:
  analytic_story:
    - 'Windows Defense Evasion Tactics'
    - 'Microsoft Support Diagnostic Tool Vulnerability CVE-2022-30190'
  asset_type:Endpoint
  mitre_attack_id:
    - 'T1059'
  product:
    - 'Splunk Enterprise'
    - 'Splunk Enterprise Security'
    - 'Splunk Cloud'
  security_domain:endpoint

tests:
 name:'True Positive Test'
 attack_data:
  data: https://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/attack_techniques/T1059/path_traversal/sysmon.log
  source: XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational
  sourcetype: XmlWinEventLog
manual_test:None