Linux Adding Crontab Using List Parameter
Description
The following analytic detects suspicious modifications to cron jobs on Linux systems using the crontab command with list parameters. It leverages data from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents, focusing on process names and command-line executions. This activity is significant as it may indicate an attempt to establish persistence or execute malicious code on a schedule. If confirmed malicious, the impact could include unauthorized code execution, data destruction, or other damaging outcomes. Further investigation should analyze the added cron job, its associated command, and any related processes.
- Type: Hunting
- Product: Splunk Enterprise, Splunk Enterprise Security, Splunk Cloud
- Datamodel: Endpoint
- Last Updated: 2024-05-27
- Author: Teoderick Contreras, Splunk
- ID: 52f6d751-1fd4-4c74-a4c9-777ecfeb5c58
Annotations
ATT&CK
Kill Chain Phase
- Installation
- Exploitation
NIST
- DE.AE
CIS20
- CIS 10
CVE
Search
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| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime from datamodel=Endpoint.Processes where Processes.process_name = "crontab" Processes.process= "* -l*" by Processes.parent_process_name Processes.process_name Processes.process Processes.process_id Processes.parent_process_id Processes.dest Processes.user
| `drop_dm_object_name(Processes)`
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
| `linux_adding_crontab_using_list_parameter_filter`
Macros
The SPL above uses the following Macros:
linux_adding_crontab_using_list_parameter_filter is a empty macro by default. It allows the user to filter out any results (false positives) without editing the SPL.
Required fields
List of fields required to use this analytic.
- _time
- Processes.dest
- Processes.user
- Processes.parent_process_name
- Processes.process_name
- Processes.process
- Processes.process_id
- Processes.parent_process_id
How To Implement
The detection is based on data that originates from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents. These agents are designed to provide security-related telemetry from the endpoints where the agent is installed. To implement this search, you must ingest logs that contain the process GUID, process name, and parent process. Additionally, you must ingest complete command-line executions. These logs must be processed using the appropriate Splunk Technology Add-ons that are specific to the EDR product. The logs must also be mapped to the Processes
node of the Endpoint
data model. Use the Splunk Common Information Model (CIM) to normalize the field names and speed up the data modeling process.
Known False Positives
Administrator or network operator can use this application for automation purposes. Please update the filter macros to remove false positives.
Associated Analytic Story
- Industroyer2
- Linux Privilege Escalation
- Linux Living Off The Land
- Data Destruction
- Linux Persistence Techniques
- Scheduled Tasks
- Gomir
RBA
Risk Score | Impact | Confidence | Message |
---|---|---|---|
25.0 | 50 | 50 | A possible crontab list command $process$ executed on $dest$ |
The Risk Score is calculated by the following formula: Risk Score = (Impact * Confidence/100). Initial Confidence and Impact is set by the analytic author.
Reference
- https://www.welivesecurity.com/2022/04/12/industroyer2-industroyer-reloaded/
- https://cert.gov.ua/article/39518
Test Dataset
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 | version: 2