GitHub Repo

Detection: Path traversal SPL injection

REMOVED DETECTION

This detection has been removed from the Splunk Threat Research content library and is no longer maintained or supported.

Reason: Detection is deprecated as the associated CVEs have been patched in the latest Splunk release.

Removed in version: 5.6.0

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

Updated Date: 2026-05-14 ID: dfe55688-82ed-4d24-a21b-ed8f0e0fda99 Author: Rod Soto, Splunk Type: TTP Product: Splunk Enterprise Security

Description

The following analytic identifies attempts at path traversal in search parameters, which can lead to SPL injection. It detects this activity by searching for specific patterns in the _internal index that indicate path traversal attempts (e.g., "../../../../"). This activity is significant for a SOC because it can allow an attacker to manipulate the application to load data from incorrect endpoints, potentially running arbitrary SPL queries. If confirmed malicious, this could lead to unauthorized data access, code execution, or further exploitation of the Splunk environment.

1`path_traversal_spl_injection` 
2| search "\/..\/..\/..\/..\/..\/..\/..\/..\/..\/"  
3| stats count by host status clientip method uri_path uri_query 
4| `path_traversal_spl_injection_filter`

Data Source

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

Macros Used

Name Value
path_traversal_spl_injection index=_internal sourcetype=splunkd_ui_access
path_traversal_spl_injection_filter ``
path_traversal_spl_injection_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
T1083 File and Directory Discovery Discovery

CVE

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
TTP detections generate a Finding (Notable) and may generate Intermediate Findings (Risk Events) for associated entities.

Implementation

This detection does not require you to ingest any new data. The detection does require the ability to search the _internal index. This search will provide search UI requests with path traversal parameter ("../../../../../../../../../") which shows exploitation attempts. This detection is meant for on premise environments, and if executed on internet facing servers without a WAF may produce a lot of results. This detection will not work against obfuscated path traversal requests.

Known False Positives

This search may find additional path traversal exploitation attempts.

Associated Analytic Story

References

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
Integration 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: 8