Detect Quest KACE SMA Improper Authentication Exploitation Detected in IBM QRadar
Detects exploitation attempts against CVE-2025-32975, an improper authentication vulnerability (CWE-287) in Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA). This KEV-listed vulnerability allows attackers to bypass authentication controls, potentially enabling unauthorized access to the SMA management interface and downstream managed endpoints. Successful exploitation could lead to full appliance compromise and lateral movement across managed systems.
MITRE ATT&CK
QRadar Detection Query
SELECT sourceip, destinationip, destinationport, URL, username, eventcount, MIN(starttime) AS first_seen, MAX(starttime) AS last_seen,
SUM(CASE WHEN URL LIKE '%/admin%' OR URL LIKE '%/userui%' OR URL LIKE '%/api/users%' THEN 1 ELSE 0 END) AS admin_requests,
SUM(CASE WHEN responseCode IN (200, 302, 301) AND (URL LIKE '%/admin%' OR URL LIKE '%/userui%') THEN 1 ELSE 0 END) AS successful_admin_access
FROM events
WHERE LOGSOURCETYPENAME(devicetype) IN ('Apache HTTP Server', 'Microsoft IIS', 'Nginx', 'F5 BIG-IP')
AND destinationport IN (80, 443, 8080, 8443)
AND (URL LIKE '%/admin%' OR URL LIKE '%/userui%' OR URL LIKE '%/api%' OR URL LIKE '%/service%')
AND LAST 24 HOURS
GROUP BY sourceip, destinationip, destinationport, URL, username
HAVING admin_requests > 10 OR successful_admin_access > 3
ORDER BY admin_requests DESCQueries QRadar for suspicious access patterns to Quest KACE SMA administrative endpoints, identifying sources with high volumes of admin endpoint requests or multiple successful accesses to privileged paths that may indicate authentication bypass exploitation.
Data Sources
Required Tables
False Positives & Tuning
- IT operations staff performing routine KACE appliance administration
- Automated patch deployment processes accessing KACE API endpoints
- Network monitoring tools performing connectivity checks to KACE management ports
- Web application firewall testing generating traffic to KACE endpoints
Other platforms for CVE-2025-32975
Testing Methodology
Validate this detection against 3 adversary techniques from Atomic Red Team. Each test below lists the behaviour to exercise and the telemetry you should expect to see. Executable commands and cleanup steps are available with Pro.
- Test 1KACE SMA Unauthenticated Admin Endpoint Enumeration
Expected signal: Web server access logs showing GET requests to /admin, /userui, /api/users, /service/ambari without authentication cookies; network flow records showing HTTP connections to KACE SMA on port 443
- Test 2KACE SMA Authentication Bypass Simulation via Missing Auth Header
Expected signal: Web server logs showing requests to /admin/, /admin/index.php, /api/users with empty or missing authentication cookies; HTTP response codes indicating whether bypass was successful (200/302) or properly rejected (401/403)
- Test 3Post-Exploitation KACE Agent Script Deployment Simulation
Expected signal: KACE SMA audit log entry showing script creation by the test account; network logs showing authentication followed by POST request to /api/script; SIEM alert on new script creation event from an account that recently logged in from an unusual IP
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