Detection: SQL Injection with Long URLs

EXPERIMENTAL DETECTION

This detection status is set to experimental. The Splunk Threat Research team has not yet fully tested, simulated, or built comprehensive datasets for this detection. As such, this analytic is not officially supported. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to us at research@splunk.com.

Updated Date: 2024-05-12 ID: e0aad4cf-0790-423b-8328-7564d0d938f9 Author: Bhavin Patel, Splunk Type: TTP Product: Splunk Enterprise Security

Description

The following analytic detects long URLs containing multiple SQL commands, indicating a potential SQL injection attack. This detection leverages web traffic data, specifically targeting web server destinations with URLs longer than 1024 characters or HTTP user agents longer than 200 characters. SQL injection is significant as it allows attackers to manipulate a web application's database, potentially leading to unauthorized data access or modification. If confirmed malicious, this activity could result in data breaches, unauthorized access, and complete system compromise. Immediate investigation and validation of alerts are crucial to mitigate these risks.

1
2| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count from datamodel=Web where Web.dest_category=web_server AND (Web.url_length > 1024 OR Web.http_user_agent_length > 200) by Web.src Web.dest Web.url Web.url_length Web.http_user_agent 
3| `drop_dm_object_name("Web")` 
4| eval url=lower(url) 
5| eval num_sql_cmds=mvcount(split(url, "alter%20table")) + mvcount(split(url, "between")) + mvcount(split(url, "create%20table")) + mvcount(split(url, "create%20database")) + mvcount(split(url, "create%20index")) + mvcount(split(url, "create%20view")) + mvcount(split(url, "delete")) + mvcount(split(url, "drop%20database")) + mvcount(split(url, "drop%20index")) + mvcount(split(url, "drop%20table")) + mvcount(split(url, "exists")) + mvcount(split(url, "exec")) + mvcount(split(url, "group%20by")) + mvcount(split(url, "having")) + mvcount(split(url, "insert%20into")) + mvcount(split(url, "inner%20join")) + mvcount(split(url, "left%20join")) + mvcount(split(url, "right%20join")) + mvcount(split(url, "full%20join")) + mvcount(split(url, "select")) + mvcount(split(url, "distinct")) + mvcount(split(url, "select%20top")) + mvcount(split(url, "union")) + mvcount(split(url, "xp_cmdshell")) - 24 
6| where num_sql_cmds > 3 
7| `sql_injection_with_long_urls_filter`

Data Source

Name Platform Sourcetype Source Supported App
N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

Macros Used

Name Value
security_content_summariesonly summariesonly=summariesonly_config allow_old_summaries=oldsummaries_config fillnull_value=fillnull_config``
sql_injection_with_long_urls_filter search *
sql_injection_with_long_urls_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
KillChainPhase.DELIVERY
NistCategory.DE_CM
Cis18Value.CIS_13
APT28
APT29
APT39
APT41
APT5
Axiom
BackdoorDiplomacy
BlackTech
Blue Mockingbird
Cinnamon Tempest
Dragonfly
Earth Lusca
FIN13
FIN7
Fox Kitten
GALLIUM
GOLD SOUTHFIELD
HAFNIUM
Ke3chang
Kimsuky
Magic Hound
Moses Staff
MuddyWater
Rocke
Sandworm Team
Threat Group-3390
ToddyCat
Volatile Cedar
Volt Typhoon
menuPass

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 monitoring network communications to your web servers or ingesting your HTTP logs and populating the Web data model. You must also identify your web servers in the Enterprise Security assets table.

Known False Positives

It's possible that legitimate traffic will have long URLs or long user agent strings and that common SQL commands may be found within the URL. Please investigate as appropriate.

Associated Analytic Story

Risk Based Analytics (RBA)

Risk Message Risk Score Impact Confidence
SQL injection attempt with url $url$ detected on $dest$ 25 50 50
The Risk Score is calculated by the following formula: Risk Score = (Impact * Confidence/100). Initial Confidence and Impact is set by the analytic author.

Detection Testing

Test Type Status Dataset Source Sourcetype
Validation Not Applicable N/A N/A N/A
Unit ❌ Failing N/A N/A N/A
Integration ❌ Failing 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: 4