Detection: Windows SQL Server xp_cmdshell Config Change

Updated Date: 2025-03-24 ID: 5eb76fe2-a869-4865-8c4c-8cff424b18b1 Author: Michael Haag, Splunk Type: TTP Product: Splunk Enterprise Security

Description

This detection identifies when the xp_cmdshell configuration is modified in SQL Server. The xp_cmdshell extended stored procedure allows execution of operating system commands and programs from SQL Server, making it a high-risk feature commonly abused by attackers for privilege escalation and lateral movement.

Search

 1`wineventlog_application` EventCode=15457 
 2| rex field=EventData_Xml "<Data>(?<config_name>[^<]+)</Data><Data>(?<new_value>[^<]+)</Data><Data>(?<old_value>[^<]+)</Data>" 
 3| rename host as dest 
 4| where config_name="xp_cmdshell" 
 5| eval change_type=case( old_value="0" AND new_value="1", "enabled", old_value="1" AND new_value="0", "disabled", true(), "modified" ) 
 6| eval risk_score=case( change_type="enabled", 90, change_type="disabled", 60, true(), 70 ) 
 7| eval risk_message="SQL Server xp_cmdshell was ".change_type." on host ".dest 
 8| stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime by dest EventCode config_name change_type risk_message risk_score 
 9| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` 
10| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` 
11| `windows_sql_server_xp_cmdshell_config_change_filter`

Data Source

Name	Platform	Sourcetype	Source
Windows Event Log Application 15457	Windows	`'XmlWinEventLog'`	`'XmlWinEventLog:Application'`

Macros Used

Name	Value
security_content_ctime	`convert timeformat="%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S" ctime($field$)`
windows_sql_server_xp_cmdshell_config_change_filter	`search *`

windows_sql_server_xp_cmdshell_config_change_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
T1505.001	SQL Stored Procedures	Persistence

Installation

DE.CM

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 Notable	Yes
Rule Title	`%name%`
Rule Description	`%description%`
Notable Event Fields	user, dest
Creates Risk Event	True

This configuration file applies to all detections of type TTP. These detections will use Risk Based Alerting and generate Notable Events.

Implementation

To successfully implement this detection, you need to be ingesting Windows Application Event Logs from SQL Server instances where SQL Server is installed. The detection specifically looks for EventID 15457 which indicates configuration changes to extended stored procedures.

Known False Positives

Database administrators may legitimately enable xp_cmdshell for maintenance tasks, such as database maintenance scripts requiring OS-level operations, legacy applications, or automated system management tasks; however, this feature should generally remain disabled in production environments due to security risks. To reduce false positives, document when xp_cmdshell is required, monitor for unauthorized changes, create change control procedures for xp_cmdshell modifications, and consider alerting on the enabled state rather than configuration changes if preferred.

Associated Analytic Story

Risk Based Analytics (RBA)

Risk Message:

SQL Server xp_cmdshell configuration was $change_type$ on host $dest$, which could indicate an attempt to gain operating system command execution capabilities

Risk Object	Risk Object Type	Risk Score	Threat Objects
dest	system	90	No Threat Objects
config_name	other	90	No Threat Objects

References

Detection Testing

Test Type	Status	Dataset	Source	Sourcetype
Validation	✅ Passing	N/A	N/A	N/A
Unit	✅ Passing	Dataset	`XmlWinEventLog:Application`	`XmlWinEventLog`
Integration	✅ Passing	Dataset	`XmlWinEventLog:Application`	`XmlWinEventLog`

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: 3