ID | Technique | Tactic |
---|---|---|
T1200 | Hardware Additions | Initial Access |
T1020 | Automated Exfiltration | Exfiltration |
T1498 | Network Denial of Service | Impact |
T1020.001 | Traffic Duplication | Exfiltration |
Detection: Detect Traffic Mirroring
EXPERIMENTAL DETECTION
This detection status is set to experimental. The Splunk Threat Research team has not yet fully tested, simulated, or built comprehensive datasets for this detection. As such, this analytic is not officially supported. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to us at research@splunk.com.
Description
The following analytic detects the initiation of traffic mirroring sessions on Cisco network devices. It leverages logs with specific mnemonics and facilities related to traffic mirroring, such as "ETH_SPAN_SESSION_UP" and "PKTCAP_START." This activity is significant because adversaries may use traffic mirroring to exfiltrate data by duplicating and forwarding network traffic to an external destination. If confirmed malicious, this could allow attackers to capture sensitive information, monitor network communications, and potentially compromise the integrity and confidentiality of the network.
Search
1`cisco_networks` (facility="MIRROR" mnemonic="ETH_SPAN_SESSION_UP") OR (facility="SPAN" mnemonic="SESSION_UP") OR (facility="SPAN" mnemonic="PKTCAP_START") OR (mnemonic="CFGLOG_LOGGEDCMD" command="monitor session*")
2| stats min(_time) AS firstTime max(_time) AS lastTime count BY host facility mnemonic
3| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
4|`security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
5| `detect_traffic_mirroring_filter`
Data Source
Name | Platform | Sourcetype | Source | Supported App |
---|---|---|---|---|
N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Macros Used
Name | Value |
---|---|
cisco_networks | eventtype=cisco_ios |
detect_traffic_mirroring_filter | search * |
detect_traffic_mirroring_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 Notable | Yes |
Rule Title | %name% |
Rule Description | %description% |
Notable Event Fields | user, dest |
Creates Risk Event | True |
Implementation
This search uses a standard SPL query on logs from Cisco Network devices. The network devices must log with a severity level of minimum "5 - notification". The search also requires that the Cisco Networks Add-on for Splunk (https://splunkbase.splunk.com/app/1467) is used to parse the logs from the Cisco network devices and that the devices have been configured according to the documentation of the Cisco Networks Add-on. Also note that an attacker may disable logging from the device prior to enabling traffic mirroring.
Known False Positives
This search will return false positives for any legitimate traffic captures by network administrators.
Associated Analytic Story
Risk Based Analytics (RBA)
Risk Message | Risk Score | Impact | Confidence |
---|---|---|---|
tbd | 25 | 50 | 50 |
Detection Testing
Test Type | Status | Dataset | Source | Sourcetype |
---|---|---|---|---|
Validation | Not Applicable | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Unit | ❌ Failing | N/A | N/A |
N/A |
Integration | ❌ Failing | N/A | N/A |
N/A |
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