Detection: Suspicious writes to System Volume Information

REMOVED DETECTION

This detection has been removed from the Splunk Threat Research content library and is no longer maintained or supported.

Reason: Detection deprecated as it no longer effectively identifies the intended malicious activity

Removed in version: 5.2.0

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to us at research@splunk.com.

Updated Date: 2026-05-13 ID: cd6297cd-2bdd-4aa1-84aa-5d2f84228fac Author: Rico Valdez, Splunk Type: Hunting Product: Splunk Enterprise Security

Description

This search detects writes to the 'System Volume Information' folder by something other than the System process.

Search

1(`sysmon` OR tag=process) EventCode=11 process_id!=4 file_path=*System\ Volume Information* 
2| stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime by dest, Image, file_path 
3| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
4| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` 
5| `suspicious_writes_to_system_volume_information_filter`

Data Source

Name	Platform	Sourcetype	Source
Sysmon EventID 1	Windows	`'XmlWinEventLog'`	`'XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational'`

Macros Used

Name	Value
sysmon	`(source=WinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational OR source=XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational OR source=Syslog:Linux-Sysmon/Operational)`
suspicious_writes_to_system_volume_information_filter	``

suspicious_writes_to_system_volume_information_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
T1036	Masquerading	Stealth

Default Configuration

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

Setting	Value
Disabled	true
Cron Schedule	`N/A`
Earliest Time	`N/A`
Latest Time	`N/A`
Schedule Window	`N/A`
Creates Finding (Notable)	No
Creates Intermediate Finding (Risk Event)	No

Hunting detections do not generate a Finding (Notable) or Intermediate Findings (Risk Events).

Implementation

You need to be ingesting logs with both the process name and command-line from your endpoints. If you are using Sysmon, you must have at least version 6.0.4 of the Sysmon TA.

Known False Positives

It is possible that other utilities or system processes may legitimately write to this folder. Investigate and modify the search to include exceptions as appropriate.

Associated Analytic Story

Collection and Staging

Detection Testing

Test Type	Status	Dataset	Source	Sourcetype
Validation	Not Applicable	N/A	N/A	N/A
Unit	Not Applicable	N/A	`N/A`	`N/A`

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: 5