Detection: Confluence Data Center and Server Privilege Escalation

Updated Date: 2024-11-15 ID: 115bebac-0976-4f7d-a3ec-d1fb45a39a11 Author: Michael Haag, Splunk Type: TTP Product: Splunk Enterprise Security

Description

The following analytic identifies potential exploitation attempts on a known vulnerability in Atlassian Confluence, specifically targeting the /setup/.action URL pattern. It leverages web logs within the Splunk 'Web' Data Model, filtering for successful accesses (HTTP status 200) to these endpoints. This activity is significant as it suggests attackers might be exploiting a privilege escalation flaw in Confluence. If confirmed malicious, it could result in unauthorized access or account creation with escalated privileges, leading to potential data breaches or further exploitation within the environment.

1
2| tstats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime from datamodel=Web where Web.url IN ("*/setup/setupadministrator.action*", "*/setup/finishsetup.action*", "*/json/setup-restore-local.action*", "*/json/setup-restore-progress.action*", "*/json/setup-restore.action*", "*/bootstrap/selectsetupstep.action*") Web.status=200 by Web.http_user_agent, Web.status Web.http_method, Web.url, Web.url_length, Web.src, Web.dest, sourcetype 
3| `drop_dm_object_name("Web")` 
4| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` 
5| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` 
6| `confluence_data_center_and_server_privilege_escalation_filter`

Data Source

Name Platform Sourcetype Source
Nginx Access N/A 'nginx:plus:kv' '/var/log/nginx/access.log'

Macros Used

Name Value
security_content_ctime convert timeformat="%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S" ctime($field$)
confluence_data_center_and_server_privilege_escalation_filter search *
confluence_data_center_and_server_privilege_escalation_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
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Delivery
DE.CM
CIS 13

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 search you need to be ingesting information on Web traffic that include fields relavent for traffic into the Web datamodel.

Known False Positives

False positives may be present with legitimate applications. Attempt to filter by dest IP or use Asset groups to restrict to confluence servers.

Associated Analytic Story

Risk Based Analytics (RBA)

Risk Message:

Potential exploitation attempts on a known vulnerability in Atlassian Confluence detected. The source IP is $src$ and the destination hostname is $dest$.

Risk Object Risk Object Type Risk Score Threat Objects
dest system 72 src

References

Detection Testing

Test Type Status Dataset Source Sourcetype
Validation ✅ Passing N/A N/A N/A
Unit ✅ Passing Dataset nginx:plus:kv nginx:plus:kv
Integration ✅ Passing Dataset nginx:plus:kv nginx:plus:kv

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: 6