GitHub Repo

Detection: Mailsniper Invoke functions

Updated Date: 2026-05-13 ID: a36972c8-b894-11eb-9f78-acde48001122 Author: Teoderick Contreras, Splunk Type: TTP Product: Splunk Enterprise Security

Description

The following analytic detects the execution of known MailSniper PowerShell functions on a machine. It leverages PowerShell logs (EventCode 4104) to identify specific script block text associated with MailSniper activities. This behavior is significant as MailSniper is often used by attackers to harvest sensitive emails from compromised Exchange servers. If confirmed malicious, this activity could lead to unauthorized access to sensitive email data, credential theft, and further compromise of the email infrastructure.

 1`powershell` EventCode=4104 ScriptBlockText IN ("*Invoke-GlobalO365MailSearch*", "*Invoke-GlobalMailSearch*", "*Invoke-SelfSearch*", "*Invoke-PasswordSprayOWA*", "*Invoke-PasswordSprayEWS*","*Invoke-DomainHarvestOWA*", "*Invoke-UsernameHarvestOWA*","*Invoke-OpenInboxFinder*","*Invoke-InjectGEventAPI*","*Invoke-InjectGEvent*","*Invoke-SearchGmail*", "*Invoke-MonitorCredSniper*", "*Invoke-AddGmailRule*","*Invoke-PasswordSprayEAS*","*Invoke-UsernameHarvestEAS*")
 2  
 3| fillnull
 4  
 5| stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime
 6    BY dest signature signature_id
 7       user_id vendor_product EventID
 8       Guid Opcode Name
 9       Path ProcessID ScriptBlockId
10       ScriptBlockText
11  
12| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
13  
14| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
15  
16| `mailsniper_invoke_functions_filter`

Data Source

Name Platform Sourcetype Source
Powershell Script Block Logging 4104 Windows icon Windows 'XmlWinEventLog' 'XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-PowerShell/Operational'

Macros Used

Name Value
powershell (source=WinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-PowerShell/Operational OR source="XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-PowerShell/Operational" OR source=WinEventLog:PowerShellCore/Operational OR source="XmlWinEventLog:PowerShellCore/Operational")
mailsniper_invoke_functions_filter search *
mailsniper_invoke_functions_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
T1114.001 Local Email Collection Collection
Exploitation
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 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 need to be ingesting logs with the powershell logs from your endpoints. make sure you enable needed registry to monitor this event.

Known False Positives

No false positives have been identified at this time.

Associated Analytic Story

Finding

Title Entity Field Entity Type Risk Score
Potential mailsniper.ps1 functions executed on dest $dest$ by user $user_id$. user_id user 50

Intermediate Findings

Message Entity Field Entity Type Risk Score
Potential mailsniper.ps1 functions executed on dest $dest$ by user $user_id$. dest system 50

References

Detection Testing

Test Type Status Dataset Source Sourcetype
Validation ✅ Passing N/A N/A N/A
Unit ✅ Passing Dataset XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-PowerShell/Operational XmlWinEventLog
Integration ✅ Passing Dataset XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-PowerShell/Operational 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: 13