SUNBURST Command and Control Activity

Last updated 6 months ago on 2025-02-03
Created 5 years ago on 2020-12-14

About

The malware known as SUNBURST targets the SolarWind's Orion business software for command and control. This rule detects post-exploitation command and control activity of the SUNBURST backdoor.
Tags
Domain: EndpointOS: WindowsUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: Command and ControlData Source: Elastic DefendLanguage: eql
Severity
high
Risk Score
73
MITRE ATT&CK™

Command and Control (TA0011)(opens in a new tab or window)

Initial Access (TA0001)(opens in a new tab or window)

License
Elastic License v2(opens in a new tab or window)

Definition

Rule Type
Event Correlation Rule
Integration Pack
Prebuilt Security Detection Rules
Index Patterns
logs-endpoint.events.network-*
Related Integrations

endpoint(opens in a new tab or window)

Query
network where host.os.type == "windows" and event.type == "protocol" and network.protocol == "http" and
  process.name : ("ConfigurationWizard.exe",
                  "NetFlowService.exe",
                  "NetflowDatabaseMaintenance.exe",
                  "SolarWinds.Administration.exe",
                  "SolarWinds.BusinessLayerHost.exe",
                  "SolarWinds.BusinessLayerHostx64.exe",
                  "SolarWinds.Collector.Service.exe",
                  "SolarwindsDiagnostics.exe") and
  (
    (
      (http.request.body.content : "*/swip/Upload.ashx*" and http.request.body.content : ("POST*", "PUT*")) or
      (http.request.body.content : ("*/swip/SystemDescription*", "*/swip/Events*") and http.request.body.content : ("GET*", "HEAD*"))
    ) and
    not http.request.body.content : "*solarwinds.com*"
  )

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect SUNBURST Command and Control Activity in the Elastic Security detection engine by installing this rule into your Elastic Stack.

To setup this rule, check out the installation guide for Prebuilt Security Detection Rules(opens in a new tab or window).