GitHub Repo

Detection: VMWare Aria Operations Exploit Attempt

Updated Date: 2026-05-13 ID: d5d865e4-03e6-43da-98f4-28a4f42d4df7 Author: Michael Haag, Splunk Type: TTP Product: Splunk Enterprise Security

Description

The following analytic detects potential exploitation attempts against VMWare vRealize Network Insight, specifically targeting the CVE-2023-20887 vulnerability. It monitors web traffic for HTTP POST requests directed at the vulnerable endpoint "/saas./resttosaasservlet." This detection leverages web traffic data, focusing on specific URL patterns and HTTP methods. Identifying this behavior is crucial for a SOC as it indicates an active exploit attempt. If confirmed malicious, the attacker could execute arbitrary code, leading to unauthorized access, data theft, or further network compromise.

 1
 2| tstats `security_content_summariesonly`
 3  count min(_time) as firstTime
 4        max(_time) as lastTime
 5
 6FROM datamodel=Web WHERE
 7
 8Web.url="*/saas./resttosaasservlet*"
 9Web.http_method=POST
10Web.status IN (
11    "unknown",
12    "200"
13)
14BY Web.http_user_agent Web.status
15   Web.http_method Web.url Web.url_length
16   Web.src Web.dest
17
18| `drop_dm_object_name("Web")`
19
20| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
21
22| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
23
24| `vmware_aria_operations_exploit_attempt_filter`

Data Source

Name Platform Sourcetype Source
Palo Alto Network Threat Network icon Network 'pan:threat' 'not_applicable'

Macros Used

Name Value
security_content_summariesonly summariesonly=summariesonly_config allow_old_summaries=oldsummaries_config fillnull_value=fillnull_config``
vmware_aria_operations_exploit_attempt_filter search *
vmware_aria_operations_exploit_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
T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
T1133 External Remote Services Initial Access
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Persistence
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Initial Access
Exploitation
Delivery
Installation
DE.CM
CIS 13

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 0 * * * *
Earliest Time -70m@m
Latest Time -10m@m
Schedule Window auto
Creates Finding (Notable) Yes
Rule Title %name%
Rule Description %description%
Notable Event Fields user, dest
Creates Intermediate Finding (Risk Event) No
TTP detections generate a Finding (Notable) and may generate Intermediate Findings (Risk Events) for associated entities.

Implementation

To successfully implement this search, you need to be ingesting web or proxy logs, or ensure it is being filled by a proxy like device, into the Web Datamodel. Restrict to specific dest assets to reduce false positives.

Known False Positives

False positives will be present based on gateways in use, modify the status field as needed.

Associated Analytic Story

Finding

Title Entity Field Entity Type Risk Score
An exploitation attempt has occurred against $dest$ from $src$ related to CVE-2023-20887 dest system 50

Threat Objects

Field Type
src ip_address

References

Detection Testing

Test Type Status Dataset Source Sourcetype
Validation ✅ Passing N/A N/A N/A
Unit ✅ Passing Dataset not_applicable pan:threat
Integration ✅ Passing Dataset not_applicable pan:threat

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: 10