Exchange SSRF Autodiscover ProxyShell - Detection

Severity: high
Time window: 12h
Author: Thomas McElroy
Source: github.com/Azure/Azure-Sentinel

'This query looks for suspicious request patterns to Exchange servers that fit patterns recently blogged about by PeterJson. This exploitation chain utilises an SSRF vulnerability in Exchange which eventually allows the attacker to execute arbitrary Powershell on the server. In the example powershell can be used to write an email to disk with an encoded attachment containing a shell. Reference: https://peterjson.medium.com/reproducing-the-proxyshell-pwn2own-exploit-49743a4ea9a1'

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Initial Access	`T1190` Exploit Public-Facing Application

Rule body kusto

id: 968358d6-6af8-49bb-aaa4-187b3067fb95
name: Exchange SSRF Autodiscover ProxyShell - Detection
description: |
  'This query looks for suspicious request patterns to Exchange servers that fit patterns recently blogged about by PeterJson. This exploitation chain utilises an SSRF vulnerability in Exchange which eventually allows the attacker to execute arbitrary Powershell on the server.
  In the example powershell can be used to write an email to disk with an encoded attachment containing a shell.
  Reference: https://peterjson.medium.com/reproducing-the-proxyshell-pwn2own-exploit-49743a4ea9a1'
severity: High
requiredDataConnectors:
  - connectorId: AzureMonitor(IIS)
    dataTypes:
      - W3CIISLog
queryFrequency: 12h
queryPeriod: 12h
triggerOperator: gt
triggerThreshold: 0
tactics:
  - InitialAccess
relevantTechniques:
  - T1190
query: |
  let successCodes = dynamic([200, 302, 401]);
  W3CIISLog
  | where scStatus has_any (successCodes)
  | where ipv4_is_private(cIP) == False
  | where csUriStem hasprefix "/autodiscover/autodiscover.json"
  | project TimeGenerated, cIP, sIP, sSiteName, csUriStem, csUriQuery, Computer, csUserName, _ResourceId, FileUri
  | where (csUriQuery !has "Protocol" and isnotempty(csUriQuery))
  or (csUriQuery has_any("/mapi/", "powershell"))
  or (csUriQuery contains "@" and csUriQuery matches regex @"\.[a-zA-Z]{2,4}?(?:[a-zA-Z]{2,4}\/)")
  or (csUriQuery contains ":" and csUriQuery matches regex @"\:[0-9]{2,4}\/")
  | extend HostName = tostring(split(Computer, ".")[0]), DomainIndex = toint(indexof(Computer, '.'))
  | extend HostNameDomain = iff(DomainIndex != -1, substring(Computer, DomainIndex + 1), Computer)
  | extend AccountName = tostring(split(csUserName, "@")[0]), AccountUPNSuffix = tostring(split(csUserName, "@")[1])
entityMappings:
  - entityType: Account
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: FullName
        columnName: csUserName
      - identifier: Name
        columnName: AccountName
      - identifier: UPNSuffix
        columnName: AccountUPNSuffix  
  - entityType: Host
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: FullName
        columnName: Computer
  - entityType: IP
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: Address
        columnName: cIP
  - entityType: AzureResource
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: ResourceId
        columnName: _ResourceId
version: 1.0.3
kind: Scheduled
metadata:
    source:
        kind: Community
    author:
        name: Thomas McElroy
    support:
        tier: Community
    categories:
        domains: [ "Security - Others" ]

Stages and Predicates

Parameters

let successCodes = dynamic([200, 302, 401]);

Stage 1: `source`

W3CIISLog

Stage 2: `where`

| where scStatus has_any (successCodes)

Stage 3: `where`

| where ipv4_is_private(cIP) == False

Stage 4: `where`

| where csUriStem hasprefix "/autodiscover/autodiscover.json"

Stage 5: `project`

| project TimeGenerated, cIP, sIP, sSiteName, csUriStem, csUriQuery, Computer, csUserName, _ResourceId, FileUri

Stage 6: `where`

| where (csUriQuery !has "Protocol" and isnotempty(csUriQuery))
or (csUriQuery has_any("/mapi/", "powershell"))
or (csUriQuery contains "@" and csUriQuery matches regex @"\.[a-zA-Z]{2,4}?(?:[a-zA-Z]{2,4}\/)")
or (csUriQuery contains ":" and csUriQuery matches regex @"\:[0-9]{2,4}\/")

Stage 7: `extend` (3 consecutive steps)

| extend HostName = tostring(split(Computer, ".")[0]), DomainIndex = toint(indexof(Computer, '.'))
| extend HostNameDomain = iff(DomainIndex != -1, substring(Computer, DomainIndex + 1), Computer)
| extend AccountName = tostring(split(csUserName, "@")[0]), AccountUPNSuffix = tostring(split(csUserName, "@")[1])

Exclusions

Top-level NOT(...) conjuncts: predicates this rule actively suppresses.

Field	Kind	Excluded values
`cIP`	cidr_match	`10.0.0.0/8`, `172.16.0.0/12`, `192.168.0.0/16`, `169.254.0.0/16`, `127.0.0.0/8`

Indicators

Each row is a field, operator, and value that the rule matches. The corpus column counts how many other rules in the catalog look for the same combination: high numbers point to widely-used, community-vetted indicators. Blank or 1 shows that the indicator is specific to this rule.

Field	Kind	Values
`csUriQuery`	contains	`:` `@`
`csUriQuery`	is_not_null	(no value, null check)
`csUriQuery`	match	`/mapi/` `powershell`
`csUriQuery`	regex_match	`.[a-zA-Z]{2,4}?(?:[a-zA-Z]{2,4}\/)` `\:[0-9]{2,4}\/`
`csUriStem`	starts_with	`/autodiscover/autodiscover.json`
`scStatus`	match	`200` `302` `401`

Output fields

Fields the rule emits when it matches. Chronicle authors list these in the outcome block; they appear on the detection and $risk_score drives alerting. Sentinel / Defender XDR rules build them up through project / summarize / extend stages. Sentinel maps these into alert fields via entityMappings and customDetails; Defender XDR custom detections surface them as alert fields directly.

Field	Source
`Computer`	`project`
`FileUri`	`project`
`TimeGenerated`	`project`
`_ResourceId`	`project`
`cIP`	`project`
`csUriQuery`	`project`
`csUriStem`	`project`
`csUserName`	`project`
`sIP`	`project`
`sSiteName`	`project`
`DomainIndex`	`extend`
`HostName`	`extend`
`HostNameDomain`	`extend`
`AccountName`	`extend`
`AccountUPNSuffix`	`extend`

`j` / `k`	Scroll down / up
`d` / `u`	Half-page down / up
`gg` / `G`	Top / bottom
`h` / `l`	History back / forward
`f`	Follow link (`Shift` = new tab)
`/`	Focus search
`?`	Toggle this help
`↑` / `↓`	Navigate search results
`Enter`	Open highlighted result
`Esc`	Close results / dialog

`type:`	`events` / `rules` / `providers`
`vendor:`	`sigma` / `elastic` / `splunk` / `kusto` / `chronicle` (vendor name alone also works: `sigma:`, `kql:`, `secops:`…)
`tactic:`	TA-id, slug, or name: `credential_access`, `TA0006`
`technique:`	technique or sub-technique ID: `T1003`, `T1003.001` (alias `tech:`)
`severity:`	`critical` / `high` / `medium` / `low` / `informational` (alias `sev:`)
`risk_score`	Numeric comparison on the Elastic risk score (0 to 100): `risk_score>50`, `risk_score<=20`, `risk_score=99` (alias `risk`; Elastic rules only)
`stages:`	Rules with exactly N pipeline stages
`correlation:`	`single_event` / `sequence` / `alternatives` / `alternatives_cross_log` / `all_required` / `correlated`
`with:`	Co-occurrence event-id; stacks (`with:4624 with:4769`) to require all, while a comma list in one occurrence (`with:4624,4769`) is an either-or group. Implies multi-event
`like:`	Structural neighbors of a rule slug (equivalents + subsumption stricter / broader): `like:comsvcs_lsass_memory_dump-splunk-sysmon`
`groupby:`	Entity-grouping substring match against `group_by_keys`: `groupby:user`, `groupby:host`
`uses:`	Rules whose predicate tree touches the field (any kind, any value): `uses:CommandLine`
`excludes:`	Rules with top-level `not()` clauses on the field (FP whitelists): `excludes:ParentImage`
`field:` / `value:`	Predicate search; narrows rule cards to those with a matching leaf and drives the indicator tier. Unquoted = substring, wildcards allowed (`value:mimikatz`)
`indicator:`	Shorthand for `field:F value:V`: `indicator:Image=*\powershell.exe`
`kind:`	Filter by predicate kind. Narrows rule cards to those carrying a matching predicate leaf (`vendor:elastic kind:cidr_match`) and drives the indicator tier: `contains` / `starts_with` / `ends_with` / `regex` / `cidr` / `eq` / `in` … (operator aliases `op:`/`match:`)
`has:` / `no:`	`sample`, `field`, `notes`, `refs`, `trace`, `thirdparty`, `rule`, `pattern`, `timewindow`, `threshold`, `newterms`, `sigma`/`elastic`/`splunk`/`kusto`/`chronicle`
`-op:val`	Exclude matches; works on most operators but not `type:`/`like:`/`has:`/`no:` (use `no:<flag>` to exclude a rule flag): `tactic:execution -vendor:splunk`. Standalone `-kind:`/`-field:`/`-value:` drop every rule carrying a matching predicate leaf (`type:rules -kind:is_null`)
`field:"…"` / `value:"…"`	Quoted value = anchored exact match (also allows spaces): `value:"net user"`
`a,b`	Comma = OR inside one operator (`vendor:sigma,elastic`, `severity:high,critical`); repeating a facet merges the same way. `field:`/`value:` never split (literal commas)
`vendors:` / `stage:`	Singular and plural spellings fold to the canonical operator and value: `tactics:` = `tactic:`, `type:event` = `type:events`, `correlation:sequences` = `correlation:sequence`, `has:thresholds` = `has:threshold`
`"quoted phrase"`	Exact-match a multi-word phrase (free text)

Exchange SSRF Autodiscover ProxyShell - Detection

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

Parameters

Stage 1: `source`

Stage 2: `where`

Stage 3: `where`

Stage 4: `where`

Stage 5: `project`

Stage 6: `where`

Stage 7: `extend` (3 consecutive steps)

Exclusions

Indicators

Output fields

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

Exchange SSRF Autodiscover ProxyShell - Detection

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

Parameters

Stage 1: source

Stage 2: where

Stage 3: where

Stage 4: where

Stage 5: project

Stage 6: where

Stage 7: extend (3 consecutive steps)

Exclusions

Indicators

Output fields

Stage 1: `source`

Stage 2: `where`

Stage 3: `where`

Stage 4: `where`

Stage 5: `project`

Stage 6: `where`

Stage 7: `extend` (3 consecutive steps)