ID | Technique | Tactic |
---|---|---|
T1202 | Indirect Command Execution | Defense Evasion |
Detection: Windows Indirect Command Execution Via Series Of Forfiles
Description
The following analytic detects excessive usage of the forfiles.exe process, which is often indicative of post-exploitation activities. The detection leverages data from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents, focusing on process execution logs that include process GUID, process name, and parent process. This activity is significant because forfiles.exe can be abused to execute commands on multiple files, a technique used by ransomware like Prestige. If confirmed malicious, this behavior could allow attackers to enumerate files, potentially leading to data exfiltration or further malicious actions.
Search
1
2| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` values(Processes.process) as process values(Processes.process_guid) as process_guid values(Processes.process_name) as process_name count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime from datamodel=Endpoint.Processes where Processes.process_name = "forfiles.exe" OR Processes.original_file_name = "forfiles.exe" by Processes.parent_process_name Processes.parent_process Processes.dest Processes.user _time span=1m
3| where count >=20
4| `drop_dm_object_name(Processes)`
5| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
6| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
7| `windows_indirect_command_execution_via_series_of_forfiles_filter`
Data Source
Name | Platform | Sourcetype | Source |
---|---|---|---|
CrowdStrike ProcessRollup2 | N/A | 'crowdstrike:events:sensor' |
'crowdstrike' |
Sysmon EventID 1 | Windows | 'xmlwineventlog' |
'XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational' |
Windows Event Log Security 4688 | Windows | 'xmlwineventlog' |
'XmlWinEventLog:Security' |
Macros Used
Name | Value |
---|---|
security_content_ctime | convert timeformat="%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S" ctime($field$) |
windows_indirect_command_execution_via_series_of_forfiles_filter | search * |
windows_indirect_command_execution_via_series_of_forfiles_filter
is an empty macro by default. It allows the user to filter out any results (false positives) without editing the SPL.
Annotations
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 | True |
Implementation
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
unknown
Associated Analytic Story
Risk Based Analytics (RBA)
Risk Message | Risk Score | Impact | Confidence |
---|---|---|---|
excessive forfiles process execution in $dest$ | 9 | 30 | 30 |
References
Detection Testing
Test Type | Status | Dataset | Source | Sourcetype |
---|---|---|---|---|
Validation | ✅ Passing | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Unit | ✅ Passing | Dataset | XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational |
XmlWinEventLog |
Integration | ✅ Passing | Dataset | XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational |
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