Detection: Detect New Login Attempts to Routers

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: 2026-05-13 ID: bce3ed7c-9b1f-42a0-abdf-d8b123a34836 Author: Bhavin Patel, Splunk Type: TTP Product: Splunk Enterprise Security

Description

The following analytic identifies new login attempts to routers. It leverages authentication logs from the ES Assets and Identity Framework, focusing on assets categorized as routers. The detection flags connections that have not been observed in the past 30 days. This activity is significant because unauthorized access to routers can lead to network disruptions or data interception. If confirmed malicious, attackers could gain control over network traffic, potentially leading to data breaches or further network compromise.

Search

 1
 2| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count earliest(_time) as earliest latest(_time) as latest FROM datamodel=Authentication
 3  WHERE Authentication.dest_category=router
 4  BY Authentication.dest Authentication.user
 5
 6| eval isOutlier=if(earliest >= relative_time(now(), "-30d@d"), 1, 0)
 7
 8| where isOutlier=1
 9
10| `security_content_ctime(earliest)`
11
12| `security_content_ctime(latest)`
13
14| `drop_dm_object_name("Authentication")`
15
16| `detect_new_login_attempts_to_routers_filter`

Data Source

No data sources specified for this detection.

Macros Used

Name	Value
security_content_summariesonly	`summariesonly=`summariesonly_config `allow_old_summaries=`oldsummaries_config `fillnull_value=`fillnull_config``
detect_new_login_attempts_to_routers_filter	`search *`

detect_new_login_attempts_to_routers_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

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 Finding (Notable)	Yes
Rule Title	`%name%`
Rule Description	`%description%`
Notable Event Fields	user, dest
Creates Intermediate Finding (Risk Event)	Yes

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

Implementation

To successfully implement this search, you must ensure the network router devices are categorized as "router" in the Assets and identity table. You must also populate the Authentication data model with logs related to users authenticating to routing infrastructure.

Known False Positives

Legitimate router connections may appear as new connections

Associated Analytic Story

Finding

Title	Entity Field	Entity Type	Risk Score
New login on $dest$ from $user$	user	user	50

Intermediate Findings

Message	Entity Field	Entity Type	Risk Score
New login on $dest$ from $user$	dest	system	50

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: 9