Detection: Splunk Persistent XSS via Scheduled Views

DEPRECATED DETECTION

This detection has been marked as deprecated by the Splunk Threat Research team. This means that it will no longer be maintained or supported. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to us at research@splunk.com.

Updated Date: 2025-04-16 ID: d4f55f7c-6518-4122-a197-951fe0f21b25 Author: Rod Soto Type: Hunting Product: Splunk Enterprise Security

Description

In Splunk Enterprise versions below 9.2.3 and 9.1.6 and Splunk Cloud Platform versions below 9.1.2308.211, a low-privileged user that does not hold the “admin” or “power” Splunk roles could craft a malicious payload through Scheduled Views that could result in execution of unauthorized JavaScript code in the browser of a user.

1`splunkd_ui` method=POST uri=*/scheduledview/search/update* 
2
3| stats  count earliest(_time) as firstTime  latest(_time) as lastTime values(bytes) AS bytes values(uri) AS uri values(useragent) AS user_agent by clientip user host
4
5| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
6
7| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
8
9| `splunk_persistent_xss_via_scheduled_views_filter`

Data Source

Name Platform Sourcetype Source
Splunk Splunk icon Splunk 'splunkd_ui_access' 'splunkd_ui_access.log'

Macros Used

Name Value
security_content_ctime convert timeformat="%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S" ctime($field$)
splunk_persistent_xss_via_scheduled_views_filter search *
splunk_persistent_xss_via_scheduled_views_filter is an empty macro by default. It allows the user to filter out any results (false positives) without editing the SPL.

Annotations

- MITRE ATT&CK
+ Kill Chain Phases
+ NIST
+ CIS
- Threat Actors
ID Technique Tactic
T1189 Drive-by Compromise Initial Access
Delivery
DE.AE
CIS 10

Default Configuration

This detection is configured by default in Splunk Enterprise Security to run with the following settings:

Setting Value
Disabled true
Cron Schedule 0 * * * *
Earliest Time -70m@m
Latest Time -10m@m
Schedule Window auto
Creates Risk Event False
This configuration file applies to all detections of type hunting.

Implementation

Requires access to REST API.

Known False Positives

This is a hunting search, it is not possible to detect XSS payload from the scheduled view, however it is possible to see who was sent the scheduled search in order to trigger potential XSS.

Associated Analytic Story

References

Detection Testing

Test Type Status Dataset Source Sourcetype
Validation Not Applicable N/A N/A N/A
Unit ✅ Passing Dataset /opt/splunk/var/log/splunk/splunkd_ui_access.log splunkd_ui_access
Integration ✅ Passing Dataset /opt/splunk/var/log/splunk/splunkd_ui_access.log splunkd_ui_access

Replay any dataset to Splunk Enterprise by using our replay.py tool or the UI. Alternatively you can replay a dataset into a Splunk Attack Range

Source: GitHub | Version: 4