Detect Vulnerabilities in Sumo Logic CSE
Adversaries may acquire information about vulnerabilities to use during targeting. A vulnerability is a weakness in computer hardware or software that can potentially be exploited to cause unintended behavior. Adversaries monitor vulnerability disclosures and databases (NVD, Exploit-DB, Packet Storm, closed markets) to identify exploitable weaknesses, often targeting organizations that conduct vulnerability research to obtain pre-disclosure intelligence. Because this technique occurs on adversary-controlled infrastructure before victim engagement, direct detection is impossible via standard SIEM telemetry. Detection pivots to indirect indicators observable in the victim environment: internal endpoints accessing exploit repositories (indicating insider threat or compromised research workstations), exploit development toolchain execution, CVE-named file creation, and correlation between public CVE disclosure timelines and subsequent exploitation attempts against organizational assets. Real-world actors including Sandworm Team and Volt Typhoon have leveraged CVE research for initial access, making post-disclosure exploitation windows a critical detection opportunity.
MITRE ATT&CK
- Tactic
- Resource Development
- Technique
- T1588 Obtain Capabilities
- Sub-technique
- T1588.006 Vulnerabilities
- Canonical reference
- https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1588/006/
Sumo Detection Query
// T1588.006 — Vulnerability Research: Indirect Detection via Sumo Logic
// Sources: Windows Sysmon XML events forwarded to Sumo Logic Installed Collector
_sourceCategory="windows/sysmon" OR _sourceCategory="os/windows/sysmon"
| parse regex "(?i)<EventID>(?<event_id>\d+)</EventID>" nodrop
| parse regex "(?i)<Data Name='Image'>(?<image>[^<]+)</Data>" nodrop
| parse regex "(?i)<Data Name='CommandLine'>(?<command_line>[^<]+)</Data>" nodrop
| parse regex "(?i)<Data Name='ParentImage'>(?<parent_image>[^<]+)</Data>" nodrop
| parse regex "(?i)<Data Name='DestinationHostname'>(?<dest_hostname>[^<]+)</Data>" nodrop
| parse regex "(?i)<Data Name='DestinationPort'>(?<dest_port>[^<]+)</Data>" nodrop
| parse regex "(?i)<Data Name='TargetFilename'>(?<target_filename>[^<]+)</Data>" nodrop
| parse regex "(?i)<Data Name='User'>(?<user>[^<]+)</Data>" nodrop
| parse regex "(?i)<Computer>(?<computer>[^<]+)</Computer>" nodrop
// Filter to relevant Sysmon event IDs only
| where event_id in ("1", "3", "11")
// Apply branch-specific detection logic
| where (
/* Branch 1: Sysmon Event 3 — Network connection to exploit repository */
(
event_id = "3"
AND (
dest_hostname matches "*exploit-db.com*"
OR dest_hostname matches "*packetstormsecurity.com*"
OR dest_hostname matches "*sploitus.com*"
OR dest_hostname matches "*0day.today*"
OR dest_hostname matches "*vulners.com*"
OR dest_hostname matches "*cxsecurity.com*"
OR dest_hostname matches "*seebug.org*"
OR dest_hostname matches "*bugs.chromium.org*"
)
AND NOT (
image matches "*\\svchost.exe"
OR image matches "*\\lsass.exe"
OR image matches "*\\services.exe"
)
)
OR
/* Branch 2: Sysmon Event 1 — Exploit tool process execution */
(
event_id = "1"
AND (
command_line matches "*searchsploit*"
OR command_line matches "*msfconsole*"
OR command_line matches "*msfvenom*"
OR (command_line matches "*nuclei*" AND command_line matches "*cve*")
OR (
(
image matches "*\\python.exe"
OR image matches "*\\python3.exe"
OR image matches "*\\ruby.exe"
OR image matches "*\\perl.exe"
)
AND (
command_line matches "*poc.py*"
OR command_line matches "*exploit.py*"
OR command_line matches "*exploit.rb*"
OR command_line matches "*exploit.pl*"
OR command_line matches "*CVE-20*"
OR command_line matches "*cve-20*"
)
)
)
)
OR
/* Branch 3: Sysmon Event 11 — CVE-named or exploit-named file creation */
(
event_id = "11"
AND (
target_filename matches "*CVE-20*"
OR target_filename matches "*cve-20*"
OR target_filename matches "*\\poc.*"
OR target_filename matches "*\\exploit.*"
OR target_filename matches "*0day.*"
)
AND (
target_filename matches "*.py"
OR target_filename matches "*.rb"
OR target_filename matches "*.sh"
OR target_filename matches "*.ps1"
OR target_filename matches "*.pl"
OR target_filename matches "*.exe"
OR target_filename matches "*.c"
OR target_filename matches "*.cpp"
)
)
)
| eval detection_branch =
if (event_id = "3", "ExploitSiteAccess",
if (event_id = "1", "ExploitToolExecution", "ExploitFileCreated"))
| eval signal_detail =
if (event_id = "3",
concat("Process=", image, " | Dest=", dest_hostname, ":", dest_port),
if (event_id = "1",
concat("Command=", command_line),
concat("File=", target_filename, " | Process=", image)))
| fields _messageTime, computer, user, detection_branch, signal_detail, image, command_line, target_filename, parent_image
| sort by _messageTime descDetects T1588.006 indirect indicators by parsing raw Sysmon XML events forwarded to Sumo Logic via Installed Collector. Uses regex field extraction to surface Sysmon EventIDs 1, 3, and 11, then applies branch-specific filters: Branch 1 (Event 3) catches network connections to exploit repositories excluding system processes; Branch 2 (Event 1) catches exploit toolchain execution including searchsploit, Metasploit, nuclei with CVE templates, and CVE PoC scripts via Python/Ruby/Perl; Branch 3 (Event 11) catches CVE-named or exploit-named file creation with executable extensions. Results are enriched with a detection_branch label and signal_detail summary for analyst triage. Requires Windows Sysmon deployed to endpoints with EventID 1/3/11 enabled, and a Sumo Logic Installed Collector forwarding Sysmon XML with _sourceCategory=windows/sysmon.
Data Sources
Required Tables
False Positives & Tuning
- Security researchers with authorized access to exploit databases browsing packetstormsecurity.com or sploitus.com for vulnerability intelligence — these users should be identified by username/hostname and added to an allowlist partition in the search scope.
- Vulnerability management teams running nuclei or Metasploit as part of scheduled internal scanning — the initiating process parent chain will typically include automation framework binaries; correlating with the scheduled scan calendar prevents false escalations.
- Software developers working on security tooling or open-source CVE analysis projects who legitimately create CVE-named Python or C files — reviewing git activity on the same host around the file creation time can quickly distinguish defensive from offensive intent.
- Antivirus or EDR quarantine operations that rename malicious files with exploit or CVE nomenclature as part of their isolation workflow — the parent Image field will show AV/EDR process names which can be allowlisted.
Other platforms for T1588.006
Testing Methodology
Validate this detection against 5 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 1Exploit-DB Access via Command Line HTTP Client
Expected signal: Sysmon Event ID 3 (Network Connection) with Image=/usr/bin/curl, DestinationHostname=www.exploit-db.com, DestinationPort=443. Sysmon Event ID 11 (File Create) with TargetFilename=/tmp/exploitdb_search_result.html. Auditd EXECVE record for curl with exploit-db.com argument.
- Test 2searchsploit CVE Lookup
Expected signal: Sysmon Event ID 1 (Process Create) with Image=/usr/bin/searchsploit or /usr/local/bin/searchsploit, CommandLine=searchsploit CVE-2021-44228. Auditd EXECVE record with argv[0]=searchsploit, argv[1]=CVE-2021-44228. Process creates child grep/ruby processes to query the local database.
- Test 3Download and Stage CVE PoC Script
Expected signal: Sysmon Event ID 11 (File Create) with TargetFilename=/tmp/CVE-2021-44228-exploit.py. Sysmon Event ID 1 (Process Create) for touch and the shell writing to the file. Auditd OPEN record with path=/tmp/CVE-2021-44228-exploit.py and flags indicating write access.
- Test 4Nuclei CVE Template Scan Simulation
Expected signal: Sysmon Event ID 1 (Process Create) with Image=/root/go/bin/nuclei (or similar), CommandLine containing '-t cves' and 'CVE-2021-44228'. Sysmon Event ID 3 (Network Connection) to 127.0.0.1:80 from nuclei process. Auditd EXECVE with argv containing 'nuclei', '-u', 'http://127.0.0.1', '-t', 'cves/2021/CVE-2021-44228.yaml'.
- Test 5Bulk CVE Research File Creation (Burst Pattern)
Expected signal: Five Sysmon Event ID 11 (File Create) events in rapid succession, each with TargetFilename matching CVE-20*-poc.py pattern. Sysmon Event ID 1 for powershell.exe with New-Item commands. PowerShell ScriptBlock Log Event ID 4104 capturing the full foreach loop.
References (10)
- https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1588/006/
- https://nvd.nist.gov/
- https://www.exploit-db.com/
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog
- https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/six-russian-gru-officers-charged-connection-worldwide-deployment-destructive-malware
- https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/cybersecurity-advisories/aa24-038a
- https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2023/09/06/storm-0501-ransomware-attacks-expanding-to-hybrid-cloud-environments/
- https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/tree/main/cves
- https://github.com/nomi-sec/PoC-in-GitHub
- https://github.com/trickest/cve
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