splApache-2.0from splunk/security_content

Detect Prohibited Applications Spawning cmd exe

The following analytic detects executions of cmd.exe spawned by processes that are commonly abused by attackers and do not typically launch cmd.exe. It leverages data from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents, focusing on process GUID, process name, parent process, and command-line executions. This activity is significant because it may indicate an attempt to execute unauthorized commands or scripts, often a precursor to further malicious actions. If confirmed malicious, this behavior could lead to unauthorized code execution, privilege escalation, or persistence within the environment.

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FP risk

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Rule sourcedetections/endpoint/detect_prohibited_applications_spawning_cmd_exe.yml

| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count values(Processes.process)
as process min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime from datamodel=Endpoint.Processes where (Processes.process_name=cmd.exe OR Processes.original_file_name=Cmd.Exe)
by Processes.action Processes.dest Processes.original_file_name
   Processes.parent_process Processes.parent_process_exec Processes.parent_process_guid
   Processes.parent_process_id Processes.parent_process_name Processes.parent_process_path
   Processes.process Processes.process_exec Processes.process_guid Processes.process_hash
   Processes.process_id Processes.process_integrity_level Processes.process_name Processes.process_path
   Processes.user Processes.user_id Processes.vendor_product
| `drop_dm_object_name(Processes)`
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
|search [
    | inputlookup prohibited_apps_launching_cmd
    | rename prohibited_applications as parent_process_name
    | eval parent_process_name="*" . parent_process_name
    | table parent_process_name
  ]
| `detect_prohibited_applications_spawning_cmd_exe_filter`