Detection rules › YARA-L

sap impossible travel

Severity
medium
Time window
1h
Match by
user
Author
Google Cloud Security
Source
github.com/chronicle/detection-rules

Identifies two successful logons for the same User ID from two different geographic locations in a timeframe that is physically impossible to travel between, indicating credential sharing or theft.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

TacticTechniques
Initial AccessT1078 Valid Accounts
PersistenceT1078 Valid Accounts
Privilege EscalationT1078 Valid Accounts
StealthT1078 Valid Accounts

Event coverage

Rule body yaral

/*
 * Copyright 2026 Google LLC
 *
 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
 *
 *     https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 *
 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 * limitations under the License.
 */

rule sap_impossible_travel {

  meta:
    author = "Google Cloud Security"
    description = "Identifies two successful logons for the same User ID from two different geographic locations in a timeframe that is physically impossible to travel between, indicating credential sharing or theft."
    severity = "medium"
    tactic = "TA0006"
    technique = "T1078"

  events:
    $e.metadata.log_type = "SAP_SECURITY_AUDIT"
    (
        $e.metadata.event_type = "USER_LOGIN" or
        $e.additional.fields["msg_1"] = /^AU1$|^AU5$/
    )
    $e.principal.ip_geo_artifact.location.country_or_region != ""

    $country = $e.principal.ip_geo_artifact.location.country_or_region
    $state = $e.principal.ip_geo_artifact.location.state
    $user = $e.principal.user.userid

  match:
    $user over 1h

  outcome:
    $countries = array_distinct($country)
    $states = array_distinct($state)
    $count_of_countries = count_distinct($country)
    $count_of_states = count_distinct($state)
    $risk_score = if(count_distinct($country) > 1, 30, 0) + if(count_distinct($state) > 2, 30, 0) + 30
    $network_carrier_name = array_distinct($e.principal.ip_geo_artifact.network.carrier_name)
    $networn_dns_domain = array_distinct($e.principal.ip_geo_artifact.network.dns_domain)
    $network_org = array_distinct($e.principal.ip_geo_artifact.network.organization_name)
    $sap_instance = array_distinct($e.target.resource.name)

  condition:
    #country >= 2 or #state >= 2
}

Detection logic

Fires when $country occurs at least 2 times in the 1h window or $state occurs at least 2 times in the 1h window.

Events

$e USER_LOGIN (4624, 4625, 4648)

  • metadata.log_type = "SAP_SECURITY_AUDIT"
  • additional.fields["msg_1"] matches "^AU1$|^AU5$"
  • principal.ip_geo_artifact.location.country_or_region is not null

Correlation

Match key
$user
Within
1h

Outcome

Fields the detection emits on a match. $risk_score drives alerting; Chronicle surfaces the rest on the detection.

FieldExpression
countriesarray_distinct($country)
statesarray_distinct($state)
count_of_countriescount_distinct($country)
count_of_statescount_distinct($state)
risk_scoreif(count_distinct($country) > 1, 30, 0) + if(count_distinct($state) > 2, 30, 0) + 30
network_carrier_namearray_distinct($e.principal.ip_geo_artifact.network.carrier_name)
networn_dns_domainarray_distinct($e.principal.ip_geo_artifact.network.dns_domain)
network_orgarray_distinct($e.principal.ip_geo_artifact.network.organization_name)
sap_instancearray_distinct($e.target.resource.name)