Cisco Secure Firewall - Privileged Command Execution via HTTP

SPLUNK detection rule by Nasreddine Bencherchali, Michael Haag, Splunk · Apache-2.0

This analytic detects HTTP requests to privileged execution paths on Cisco routers, specifically targeting the `/level/15/exec/-/*` endpoint using Cisco Secure Firewall Intrusion Events. This detection leverages Snort signature 65370 to identify requests to these sensitive endpoints, which when combined with other indicators may signal active exploitation or post-compromise activity.

name: Cisco Secure Firewall - Privileged Command Execution via HTTP
id: 0c1d2e3f-4a5b-6c7d-8e9f-0a1b2c3d4e5f
version: 5
creation_date: '2026-01-12'
modification_date: '2026-05-13'
author: Nasreddine Bencherchali, Michael Haag, Splunk
status: production
type: Anomaly
description: |
    This analytic detects HTTP requests to privileged execution paths on Cisco routers, specifically targeting the `/level/15/exec/-/*` endpoint using Cisco Secure Firewall Intrusion Events.
    This detection leverages Snort signature 65370 to identify requests to these sensitive endpoints, which when combined with other indicators may signal active exploitation or post-compromise activity.
data_source:
    - Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense Intrusion Event
search: |
    `cisco_secure_firewall`
    EventType=IntrusionEvent
    signature_id=65370
    | fillnull
    | stats dc(signature_id) as unique_signature_count
            values(signature_id) as signature_id
            values(signature) as signature
            values(class_desc) as class_desc
            values(MitreAttackGroups) as MitreAttackGroups
            values(InlineResult) as InlineResult
            values(InlineResultReason) as InlineResultReason
            values(src) as src
            values(dest_port) as dest_port
            values(rule) as rule
            values(transport) as transport
            values(app) as app
            min(_time) as firstTime
            max(_time) as lastTime
            by dest
    | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
    | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
    | `cisco_secure_firewall___privileged_command_execution_via_http_filter`
how_to_implement: |
    This search requires Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense Logs, which
    includes the FileEvent EventType. This search uses an input macro named `cisco_secure_firewall`.
    We strongly recommend that you specify your environment-specific configurations
    (index, source, sourcetype, etc.) for Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense logs. Replace the macro definition
    with configurations for your Splunk environment. The search also uses a post-filter
    macro designed to filter out known false positives.
    The logs are to be ingested using the Splunk Add-on for Cisco Security Cloud (https://splunkbase.splunk.com/app/7404).
    The malware & file access policy must also enable logging.
known_false_positives: |
    No false positives have been identified yet.
references:
    - https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/cybersecurity-advisories/aa25-239a
drilldown_searches:
    - name: View the detection results for - "$src$"
      search: '%original_detection_search% | search  src = "$src$"'
      earliest_offset: $info_min_time$
      latest_offset: $info_max_time$
    - name: View risk events for the last 7 days for - "$src$"
      search: '| from datamodel Risk.All_Risk | search normalized_risk_object IN ("$src$") | stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime values(search_name) as "Search Name" values(risk_message) as "Risk Message" values(analyticstories) as "Analytic Stories" values(annotations._all) as "Annotations" values(annotations.mitre_attack.mitre_tactic) as "ATT&CK Tactics" by normalized_risk_object | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`'
      earliest_offset: 7d
      latest_offset: "0"
intermediate_findings:
    entities:
        - field: dest
          type: system
          score: 20
          message: HTTP request to privileged execution path detected from $src$ to Cisco router $dest$
threat_objects:
    - field: src
      type: ip_address
analytic_story:
    - Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense Analytics
    - Salt Typhoon
asset_type: Network
mitre_attack_id:
    - T1059
    - T1505.003
product:
    - Splunk Enterprise
    - Splunk Enterprise Security
    - Splunk Cloud
category: network
security_domain: network
tests:
    - name: True Positive Test
      attack_data:
        - data: https://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/cisco_secure_firewall_threat_defense/intrusion_event/intrusion_events.log
          source: not_applicable
          sourcetype: cisco:sfw:estreamer
      test_type: unit

[[ currentRule.title && currentRule.title.length > 60 ? currentRule.title.slice(0, 60) + '…' : currentRule.title ]]

95bbe866-0080-4b0b-b1f0-b60801a0741f

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Executable code, not a declarative rule

This submission is arbitrary [[ currentRule.format ? currentRule.format.toUpperCase() : '' ]] code, not a declarative detection rule — review it as you would any script before running it, and note that it cannot be safely aggregated or auto-executed alongside YARA/Sigma/Suricata/CRS rules.

Rejected pattern present

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Format & documentation suggestions

Not a security issue — this rule is valid and was accepted as-is. These are optional fields/conventions its own format recommends, mainly affecting its quality score and how well it documents itself for other reviewers.

[[ reason ]]

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[[ currentRule.title && currentRule.title.length > 60 ? currentRule.title.slice(0, 60) + '…' : currentRule.title ]]

[[ currentRule.title ]]

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