Detection: Windows TeamCity Payload Execution from Temp Directory

Updated Date: 2026-04-13 ID: 937c59be-0975-4097-ae45-f07c894f9ff4 Author: Raven Tait, Splunk Type: TTP Product: Splunk Enterprise Security

Description

Detects the bundled TeamCity java executing a payload out of the temp directory. This activity can be associated with a malicious plugin installed by metasploit for remote code execution.

Search

 1
 2| tstats `security_content_summariesonly`
 3  count min(_time) as firstTime
 4        max(_time) as lastTime
 5
 6from datamodel=Endpoint.Processes where
 7
 8Processes.process="*-classpath *"
 9Processes.process="*:\\Windows\\TEMP\\~spawn*"
10Processes.process="*.tmp.dir *"
11Processes.process="*.Payload*"
12Processes.process="*TeamCity*"
13
14by Processes.process Processes.vendor_product Processes.user_id Processes.process_hash
15   Processes.parent_process_name Processes.parent_process_exec Processes.action
16   Processes.dest Processes.process_current_directory Processes.process_path
17   Processes.process_integrity_level Processes.original_file_name
18   Processes.parent_process Processes.parent_process_path
19   Processes.parent_process_guid Processes.parent_process_id
20   Processes.process_guid Processes.process_id
21   Processes.user Processes.process_name
22
23
24| `drop_dm_object_name(Processes)`
25
26| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
27
28| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
29
30| `windows_teamcity_payload_execution_from_temp_directory_filter`

Data Source

Name	Platform	Sourcetype	Source
CrowdStrike ProcessRollup2	Other	`'crowdstrike:events:sensor'`	`'crowdstrike'`
Sysmon EventID 1	Windows	`'XmlWinEventLog'`	`'XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational'`
Windows Event Log Security 4688	Windows	`'XmlWinEventLog'`	`'XmlWinEventLog:Security'`

Macros Used

Name	Value
security_content_ctime	`convert timeformat="%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S" ctime($field$)`
windows_teamcity_payload_execution_from_temp_directory_filter	`search *`

windows_teamcity_payload_execution_from_temp_directory_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
T1505.003	Web Shell	Persistence
T1059	Command and Scripting Interpreter	Execution

Delivery

Installation

DE.CM

CIS 10

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

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

Legitimate TeamCity operations or updates may occasionally run java processes from the temp directory. Review and filter based on verified TeamCity activity.

Associated Analytic Story

Risk Based Analytics (RBA)

Risk Message:

Potential suspicious TeamCity activity observed on $dest$ via $process$.

Risk Object	Risk Object Type	Risk Score	Threat Objects
dest	system	50	process, parent_process_name

References

Detection Testing

Test Type	Status	Dataset	Source	Sourcetype
Validation	✅ Passing	N/A	N/A	N/A
Unit	✅ Passing	Dataset	`XmlWinEventLog:Security`	`XmlWinEventLog`
Integration	✅ Passing	Dataset	`XmlWinEventLog:Security`	`XmlWinEventLog`

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: 1