Detection: Windows Sqlservr Spawning Shell

Updated Date: 2025-02-04 ID: d33aac9f-030c-4830-8701-0c2dd75bb6cb Author: Michael Haag, Splunk Type: TTP Product: Splunk Enterprise Security

Description

This analytic detects instances where the sqlservr.exe process spawns a command shell (cmd.exe) or PowerShell process. This behavior is often indicative of command execution initiated from within the SQL Server process, potentially due to exploitation of SQL injection vulnerabilities or the use of extended stored procedures like xp_cmdshell.

Search

1
2| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime from datamodel=Endpoint.Processes where Processes.parent_process_name="sqlservr.exe" `process_cmd` OR `process_powershell` by Processes.dest Processes.user Processes.parent_process Processes.parent_process_name Processes.process_name Processes.process Processes.process_id Processes.original_file_name Processes.parent_process_id 
3| `drop_dm_object_name(Processes)` 
4| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` 
5| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` 
6| `windows_sqlservr_spawning_shell_filter`

Data Source

Name	Platform	Sourcetype	Source
Sysmon EventID 1	Windows	`'xmlwineventlog'`	`'XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational'`
Windows Event Log Security 4688	Windows	`'xmlwineventlog'`	`'XmlWinEventLog:Security'`

Macros Used

Name	Value
process_cmd	`(Processes.process_name=cmd.exe OR Processes.original_file_name=Cmd.Exe)`
windows_sqlservr_spawning_shell_filter	`search *`

windows_sqlservr_spawning_shell_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 implement this detection, you need to be ingesting endpoint data that captures process creation events, specifically the parent-child process relationships. Ensure that you are collecting Sysmon Event ID 1 or Windows Event Log Security 4688 events. The data should be mapped to the Endpoint data model in Splunk.

Known False Positives

Legitimate administrative activities or monitoring tools might occasionally spawn command shells from sqlservr.exe. Review the process command-line arguments and consider filtering out known legitimate processes or users.

Associated Analytic Story

SQL Server Abuse

Risk Based Analytics (RBA)

Risk Message:

A command shell was spawned by sqlservr.exe on host $dest$ by user $user$. This may indicate unauthorized command execution.

Risk Object	Risk Object Type	Risk Score	Threat Objects
user	user	90	process_name, parent_process_name
dest	system	90	process_name, parent_process_name

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: 1