Windows Time Based Evasion

Name:Windows Time Based Evasion
id:34502357-deb1-499a-8261-ffe144abf561
version:12
date:2026-03-30
author:Teoderick Contreras, Splunk
status:production
type:TTP
Description:The following analytic detects potentially malicious processes that initiate a ping delay using an invalid IP address. It leverages data from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents, focusing on command-line executions involving "ping 0 -n". Malware like NJRAT was observed using this technique to introduce time delays for evasion tactics, such as delaying self-deletion. If confirmed malicious, this activity could indicate an active infection attempting to evade detection, potentially leading to further compromise and persistence within the environment.
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.process_name = "ping.exe"
(
Processes.parent_process IN (
"*ping 0 -n *",
"*ping 0 -n *",
"*ping.exe 0 -n *",
"*ping.exe 0 -n *"
)
OR
Processes.process IN (
"*ping 0 -n *",
"*ping 0 -n *",
"*ping.exe 0 -n *",
"*ping.exe 0 -n *"
)
)

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)`
| `windows_time_based_evasion_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:No false positives have been identified at this time.
References:
  -https://malpedia.caad.fkie.fraunhofer.de/details/win.njrat
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:
    - 'NjRAT'
    - 'BlankGrabber Stealer'
  asset_type:Endpoint
  mitre_attack_id:
    - 'T1497.003'
  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/T1497.003/njrat_ping_delay_before_delete/ping_0.log
  source: XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational
  sourcetype: XmlWinEventLog
manual_test:None