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Description

The following analytic identifies the abuse of Syncappvpublishingserver.vbs, which is a native script on Windows that may be utilized to download remote files or perform privilege escalation.

  • Type: TTP
  • Product: Splunk Enterprise, Splunk Enterprise Security, Splunk Cloud
  • Datamodel: Endpoint
  • Last Updated: 2022-09-26
  • Author: Michael Haag, Splunk
  • ID: 8dd73f89-682d-444c-8b41-8e679966ad3c

Annotations

ATT&CK

ATT&CK

ID Technique Tactic
T1216 System Script Proxy Execution Defense Evasion
T1218 System Binary Proxy Execution Defense Evasion
Kill Chain Phase
  • Exploitation
NIST
  • DE.CM
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.process_name IN ("wscript.exe","cscript.exe") Processes.process="*syncappvpublishingserver.vbs*" by Processes.dest Processes.user Processes.parent_process_name Processes.process_name Processes.process Processes.process_id Processes.parent_process_id 
| `drop_dm_object_name(Processes)` 
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` 
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` 
| `windows_system_script_proxy_execution_syncappvpublishingserver_filter`

Macros

The SPL above uses the following Macros:

:information_source: windows_system_script_proxy_execution_syncappvpublishingserver_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 may be present if the vbscript syncappvpublishingserver is used for legitimate purposes. Filter as needed. Adding a n; to the command-line arguments may help reduce any noise.

Associated Analytic Story

RBA

Risk Score Impact Confidence Message
30.0 60 50 An instance of $parent_process_name$ spawning $process_name$ was identified on endpoint $dest$ by user $user$ attempting to download files or evade critical controls.

: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

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