Detection rules › Splunk

Network Share Discovery Via Dir Command

Author
Teoderick Contreras, Splunk
Source
upstream

The following analytic detects access to Windows administrative SMB shares (Admin$, IPC$, C$) using the 'dir' command. It leverages Windows Security Event Logs with EventCode 5140 to identify this activity. This behavior is significant as it is commonly used by tools like PsExec/PaExec for staging binaries before creating and starting services on remote endpoints, a technique often employed by adversaries for lateral movement and remote code execution. If confirmed malicious, this activity could allow attackers to propagate malware, such as IcedID, across the network, leading to widespread infection and potential data breaches.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

TacticTechniques
DiscoveryT1135 Network Share Discovery

Event coverage

ProviderEvent IDTitle
Security-Auditing5140A network share object was accessed.

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: search

search AccessMask=0x1 EventCode=5140 ShareName IN ("*\\\\*\\IPC$", "\\\\*\\ADMIN$", "\\\\*\\C$")

Stage 2: stats

stats BY ShareName, IpAddress, ObjectType, SubjectUserName, SubjectDomainName, IpPort, AccessMask, Computer

Stage 3: rename

rename

Stage 4: search

search

Stage 5: search

search

Stage 6: search

search `macro`

Indicators

Each row is a field, operator, and value that the rule matches. The corpus column counts how many other rules in the catalog look for the same combination: high numbers point to widely-used, community-vetted indicators. Blank or 1 shows that the indicator is specific to this rule.

FieldKindValues
AccessMaskeq
  • 0x1
EventCodeeq
  • 5140 corpus 2 (splunk 2)
ShareNamein
  • "*\\\\*\\IPC$"
  • "\\\\*\\ADMIN$"
  • "\\\\*\\C$" corpus 3 (splunk 3)