Name:Windows For Loop Usage Within Cmd.exe To Execute Commands id:a4ce9079-fc8f-4749-982a-13197c8cf977 version:1 date:None author:Onur Mustafa Erdogan, Splunk status:production type:Anomaly Description:The following analytic identifies the use of a `for /f` loop with the `delims=` option within `cmd.exe`, a technique commonly used to parse and extract data from the output of other commands.
Adversaries and malicious scripts leverage this pattern to programmatically process command output for discovery, data extraction, or execution purposes while evading simpler detection logic. Data_source:
-Sysmon EventID 1
-CrowdStrike ProcessRollup2
search:| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime
FROM datamodel=Endpoint.Processes WHERE
Processes.parent_process="*for /f*" Processes.parent_process="*delims=*" NOT Processes.user="SYSTEM" NOT Processes.user="*$" NOT Processes.parent_process IN ( "*__VIARelease*", "*:\\Program Files\\Microsoft SQL Server\\*", "*^| findstr *" )
how_to_implement:The detection is based on data that originates from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents.
These agents are designed to provide security-related telemetry from the endpoints where the agent
is installed. To implement this search, you must ingest logs that contain the process GUID, process
name, and parent process. Additionally, you must ingest complete command-line executions. These logs
must be processed using the appropriate Splunk Technology Add-ons that are specific to the EDR product.
The logs must also be mapped to the `Processes` node of the `Endpoint` data model. Use the Splunk
Common Information Model (CIM) to normalize the field names and speed up the data modeling process. known_false_positives:Administrators or power users may use `for /f` loops with `delims=` in legitimate scripts for automation or troubleshooting purposes. References: -https://packetwatch.com/resources/threat-profile/clickfix-abuses-finger-to-deliver-castleloader drilldown_searches: name:'View the detection results for - "$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:['Compromised Windows Host', 'Fake CAPTCHA Campaigns', 'Living Off The Land', 'Suspicious Command-Line Executions', 'Windows Post-Exploitation']
