System Info Gathering Using Dxdiag Application
Description
The following analytic identifies the execution of the dxdiag.exe process with specific command-line arguments, which is used to gather system information. This detection leverages data from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents, focusing on process creation events and command-line details. This activity is significant because dxdiag.exe is rarely used in corporate environments and its execution may indicate reconnaissance efforts by malicious actors. If confirmed malicious, this activity could allow attackers to collect detailed system information, aiding in further exploitation or lateral movement within the network.
- Type: Hunting
- Product: Splunk Enterprise, Splunk Enterprise Security, Splunk Cloud
- Datamodel: Endpoint
- Last Updated: 2024-05-21
- Author: Teoderick Contreras, Splunk
- ID: f92d74f2-4921-11ec-b685-acde48001122
Annotations
Kill Chain Phase
- Reconnaissance
NIST
- DE.AE
CIS20
- CIS 10
CVE
Search
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| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime from datamodel=Endpoint.Processes where `process_dxdiag` AND Processes.process = "* /t *" by Processes.dest Processes.user Processes.parent_process_name Processes.parent_process 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)`
| `system_info_gathering_using_dxdiag_application_filter`
Macros
The SPL above uses the following Macros:
system_info_gathering_using_dxdiag_application_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
This commandline can be used by a network administrator to audit host machine specifications. Thus, a filter is needed.
Associated Analytic Story
RBA
Risk Score | Impact | Confidence | Message |
---|---|---|---|
25.0 | 50 | 50 | dxdiag.exe process with commandline $process$ on $dest$ |
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
source | version: 2