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Description

The following analytic detects the execution of the Apache Benchmark binary (ab.exe), commonly used by MetaSploit payloads. It leverages data from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents, focusing on process creation events where the original file name is ab.exe. This activity is significant as it may indicate the presence of a MetaSploit attack, which uses Apache Benchmark to generate malicious payloads. If confirmed malicious, this could lead to unauthorized network connections, further system compromise, and potential data exfiltration. Immediate investigation is required to determine the intent and scope of the activity.

  • Type: Anomaly
  • Product: Splunk Enterprise, Splunk Enterprise Security, Splunk Cloud
  • Datamodel: Endpoint
  • Last Updated: 2024-05-17
  • Author: Michael Haag, Splunk
  • ID: 894f48ea-8d85-4dcd-9132-c66cdb407c9b

Annotations

ATT&CK

ATT&CK

ID Technique Tactic
T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter Execution
Kill Chain Phase
  • Installation
NIST
  • DE.AE
CIS20
  • CIS 10
CVE 


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| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime from datamodel=Endpoint.Processes where Processes.original_file_name=ab.exe by Processes.dest Processes.user Processes.parent_process_name Processes.process_name Processes.original_file_name Processes.process Processes.process_id Processes.parent_process_id 
| `drop_dm_object_name(Processes)` 
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` 
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` 
| `windows_apache_benchmark_binary_filter`

Macros

The SPL above uses the following Macros:

:information_source: windows_apache_benchmark_binary_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.parent_process
  • Processes.original_file_name
  • Processes.process_name
  • Processes.process
  • Processes.process_id
  • Processes.parent_process_path
  • Processes.process_path
  • 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

False positives should be limited as there is a small subset of binaries that contain the original file name of ab.exe. Filter as needed.

Associated Analytic Story

RBA

Risk Score Impact Confidence Message
100.0 100 100 A known MetaSploit default payload has been identified on $dest$ ran by $user$, $parent_process_name$ spawning $process_name$.

:information_source: 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

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