ID | Technique | Tactic |
---|---|---|
T1071.003 | Mail Protocols | Command And Control |
T1071 | Application Layer Protocol | Command And Control |
Detection: Windows Mail Protocol In Non-Common Process Path
Description
The following analytic detects a Windows application establishing an SMTP connection from a non-common installation path. It leverages Sysmon EventCode 3 to identify processes not typically associated with email clients (e.g., Thunderbird, Outlook) making SMTP connections. This activity is significant as adversaries, including malware like AgentTesla, use such connections for Command and Control (C2) communication to exfiltrate stolen data. If confirmed malicious, this behavior could lead to unauthorized data exfiltration, including sensitive information like desktop screenshots, browser data, and system details, compromising the affected host.
Search
1`sysmon` EventCode=3 NOT(Image IN("*\\program files*", "*\\thunderbird.exe","*\\outlook.exe")) (DestinationPortName="smtp" OR DestinationPort=25 OR DestinationPort=587)
2| stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime by Image DestinationPort DestinationPortName DestinationHostname SourceHostname SourcePort SourcePortName Protocol DestinationIp dest user
3| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
4| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
5| `windows_mail_protocol_in_non_common_process_path_filter`
Data Source
Name | Platform | Sourcetype | Source |
---|---|---|---|
Sysmon EventID 3 | Windows | 'xmlwineventlog' |
'XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational' |
Macros Used
Name | Value |
---|---|
security_content_ctime | convert timeformat="%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S" ctime($field$) |
windows_mail_protocol_in_non_common_process_path_filter | search * |
windows_mail_protocol_in_non_common_process_path_filter
is an empty macro by default. It allows the user to filter out any results (false positives) without editing the SPL.
Annotations
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 Risk Event | True |
Implementation
To successfully implement this search, you need to be ingesting logs with the process name and sysmon eventcode = 3 connection events from your endpoints. If you are using Sysmon, you must have at least version 6.0.4 of the Sysmon TA.
Known False Positives
third party application may use this network protocol as part of its feature. Filter is needed.
Associated Analytic Story
Risk Based Analytics (RBA)
Risk Message | Risk Score | Impact | Confidence |
---|---|---|---|
a process $Image$ is having a SMTP connection to $DestinationHostname$ in $dest$ | 9 | 30 | 30 |
References
Detection Testing
Test Type | Status | Dataset | Source | Sourcetype |
---|---|---|---|---|
Validation | ✅ Passing | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Unit | ✅ Passing | Dataset | XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational |
XmlWinEventLog |
Integration | ✅ Passing | Dataset | XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/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: 3