Detection: Windows SharePoint ToolPane Endpoint Exploitation Attempt

Updated Date: 2025-07-20 ID: 508b2649-3a1e-4a4c-ba9d-3cc05e1a1b70 Author: Michael Haag, Splunk Type: TTP Product: Splunk Enterprise Security

Description

The following analytic detects potential exploitation attempts against Microsoft SharePoint Server vulnerability CVE-2025-53770, also known as "ToolShell". This detection monitors for POST requests to the ToolPane.aspx endpoint with specific DisplayMode parameter, which is a key indicator of the exploit. This vulnerability allows unauthenticated remote code execution on affected SharePoint servers, enabling attackers to fully access SharePoint content, file systems, internal configurations, and execute code over the network.

Search

1
2| tstats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime from datamodel=Web where Web.url="*/_layouts/15/ToolPane.aspx*" AND Web.url="*DisplayMode=Edit*" Web.http_method=POST 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| `windows_sharepoint_toolpane_endpoint_exploitation_attempt_filter`

Data Source

Name	Platform	Sourcetype	Source
Suricata	N/A	`'suricata'`	`'suricata'`

Macros Used

Name	Value
security_content_ctime	`convert timeformat="%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S" ctime($field$)`
windows_sharepoint_toolpane_endpoint_exploitation_attempt_filter	`search *`

windows_sharepoint_toolpane_endpoint_exploitation_attempt_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
T1505.003	Web Shell	Persistence

Delivery

Installation

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

This detection requires the Web datamodel to be populated from a supported Technology Add-On like Splunk for Microsoft SharePoint or web proxy logs that capture SharePoint traffic. Configure AMSI integration in SharePoint and deploy Microsoft Defender AV on all SharePoint servers as recommended by Microsoft to provide additional protection.

Known False Positives

Limited false positives are expected as legitimate use of the ToolPane.aspx endpoint with DisplayMode=Edit parameter in POST requests is uncommon. However, some SharePoint administration activities might trigger this detection. Verify against known administrator IPs and activity patterns.

Associated Analytic Story

Microsoft SharePoint Vulnerabilities

Risk Based Analytics (RBA)

Risk Message:

Potential SharePoint ToolPane exploitation (CVE-2025-53770) detected from $src$ targeting $dest$

Risk Object	Risk Object Type	Risk Score	Threat Objects
dest	system	80	src

References

Detection Testing

Test Type	Status	Dataset	Source	Sourcetype
Validation	✅ Passing	N/A	N/A	N/A
Unit	✅ Passing	Dataset	`suricata`	`suricata`
Integration	✅ Passing	Dataset	`suricata`	`suricata`

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