Detect Suspicious Commands Initiated by Webserver Processes

Status: available
Severity: high
Time window: 1h
Group by: DeviceId, DeviceName
Source: github.com/Azure/Azure-Sentinel

This query was originally published in the threat analytics report, Operation Soft Cell. Operation Soft Cell is a series of campaigns targeting users' call logs at telecommunications providers throughout the world. These attacks date from as early as 2012. Operation Soft Cell operators sometimes use legitimate web server processes to launch commands, especially for network discovery and user/owner discovery. The following query detects activity of this kind. Reference - https://www.cybereason.com/blog/operation-soft-cell-a-worldwide-campaign-against-telecommunications-providers

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Execution	`T1059` Command and Scripting Interpreter, `T1574` Hijack Execution Flow
Stealth	`T1574` Hijack Execution Flow
Discovery	`T1082` System Information Discovery, `T1087` Account Discovery

Event coverage

Provider	Event/ActionType	Title
Sysmon	Event ID 1	Process creation
Security-Auditing	Event ID 4688	A new process has been created.
Defender-DeviceProcessEvents	any	Process activity (any)

Rule body kusto

id: fa2f7d8a-6726-465a-aa72-6f6e3d4c99d7
name: Detect Suspicious Commands Initiated by Webserver Processes
description: |
  This query was originally published in the threat analytics report, Operation Soft Cell.
  Operation Soft Cell is a series of campaigns targeting users' call logs at telecommunications providers throughout the world. These attacks date from as early as 2012.
  Operation Soft Cell operators sometimes use legitimate web server processes to launch commands, especially for network discovery and user/owner discovery. The following query detects activity of this kind.
  Reference - https://www.cybereason.com/blog/operation-soft-cell-a-worldwide-campaign-against-telecommunications-providers
severity: High
status: Available
requiredDataConnectors:
  - connectorId: MicrosoftThreatProtection
    dataTypes:
      - DeviceProcessEvents
queryFrequency: 1h
queryPeriod: 1h
triggerOperator: gt
triggerThreshold: 0
tactics:
  - Execution
  - DefenseEvasion
  - Discovery
relevantTechniques:
  - T1059
  - T1574
  - T1087
  - T1082
tags:
  - Operation Soft Cell
  - Webserver Process
  - Discovery
query: |
  // Suspicious commands launched by web server processes
  DeviceProcessEvents 
  | where (((InitiatingProcessParentFileName in("w3wp.exe", "beasvc.exe",
      "httpd.exe") or InitiatingProcessParentFileName startswith "tomcat")
      or InitiatingProcessFileName in("w3wp.exe", "beasvc.exe", "httpd.exe") or
      InitiatingProcessFileName startswith "tomcat"))
      and FileName in~('cmd.exe', 'powershell.exe')
  | where ProcessCommandLine contains '%temp%'
      or ProcessCommandLine has 'wget'
      or ProcessCommandLine has 'whoami'
      or ProcessCommandLine has 'certutil'
      or ProcessCommandLine has 'systeminfo'
      or ProcessCommandLine has 'ping'
      or ProcessCommandLine has 'ipconfig'
      or ProcessCommandLine has 'timeout'
  | summarize
      take_any(FileName),
      make_set(ProcessCommandLine, 100000),
      take_any(InitiatingProcessFileName),
      take_any(InitiatingProcessParentFileName)
      by DeviceId, DeviceName
  | extend HostName = iff(DeviceName has '.', substring(DeviceName, 0, indexof(DeviceName, '.')), DeviceName)
  | extend DnsDomain = iff(DeviceName has '.', substring(DeviceName, indexof(DeviceName, '.') + 1), "")
entityMappings:
  - entityType: Host
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: FullName
        columnName: DeviceName
      - identifier: HostName
        columnName: HostName
      - identifier: DnsDomain
        columnName: DnsDomain
version: 1.0.0
kind: Scheduled

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: `source`

DeviceProcessEvents

Stage 2: `where`

| where (((InitiatingProcessParentFileName in("w3wp.exe", "beasvc.exe",
    "httpd.exe") or InitiatingProcessParentFileName startswith "tomcat")
    or InitiatingProcessFileName in("w3wp.exe", "beasvc.exe", "httpd.exe") or
    InitiatingProcessFileName startswith "tomcat"))
    and FileName in~('cmd.exe', 'powershell.exe')

Stage 3: `where`

| where ProcessCommandLine contains '%temp%'
    or ProcessCommandLine has 'wget'
    or ProcessCommandLine has 'whoami'
    or ProcessCommandLine has 'certutil'
    or ProcessCommandLine has 'systeminfo'
    or ProcessCommandLine has 'ping'
    or ProcessCommandLine has 'ipconfig'
    or ProcessCommandLine has 'timeout'

Stage 4: `summarize`

| summarize
    take_any(FileName),
    make_set(ProcessCommandLine, 100000),
    take_any(InitiatingProcessFileName),
    take_any(InitiatingProcessParentFileName)
    by DeviceId, DeviceName

Stage 5: `extend`

| extend HostName = iff(DeviceName has '.', substring(DeviceName, 0, indexof(DeviceName, '.')), DeviceName)

HostName =

ifDeviceName has "."substring(DeviceName, 0, indexof(DeviceName, '.'))

elseDeviceName

Stage 6: `extend`

| extend DnsDomain = iff(DeviceName has '.', substring(DeviceName, indexof(DeviceName, '.') + 1), "")

DnsDomain =

ifDeviceName has "."substring(DeviceName, (indexof(DeviceName, '.') + 1))

else""

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
`FileName`	in	`cmd.exe` `powershell.exe` corpus 3 (kusto 3)
`InitiatingProcessFileName`	in	`beasvc.exe` transforms: `cased` `httpd.exe` transforms: `cased` `w3wp.exe` transforms: `cased` corpus 3 (elastic 3)
`InitiatingProcessFileName`	starts_with	`tomcat`
`InitiatingProcessParentFileName`	in	`beasvc.exe` transforms: `cased` `httpd.exe` transforms: `cased` `w3wp.exe` transforms: `cased`
`InitiatingProcessParentFileName`	starts_with	`tomcat`
`ProcessCommandLine`	contains	`%temp%` corpus 16 (sigma 13, chronicle 2, kusto 1)
`ProcessCommandLine`	match	`certutil` transforms: `term` corpus 12 (sigma 10, kusto 2) `ipconfig` transforms: `term` corpus 4 (sigma 3, kusto 1) `ping` transforms: `term` corpus 6 (sigma 4, splunk 1, kusto 1) `systeminfo` transforms: `term` corpus 6 (sigma 4, splunk 1, kusto 1) `timeout` transforms: `term` `wget` transforms: `term` corpus 11 (sigma 8, elastic 1, splunk 1, kusto 1) `whoami` transforms: `term` corpus 13 (sigma 9, splunk 2, elastic 1, kusto 1)

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
`DeviceId`	`summarize`
`DeviceName`	`summarize`
`HostName`	`extend`
`DnsDomain`	`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)

Detect Suspicious Commands Initiated by Webserver Processes

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: `source`

Stage 2: `where`

Stage 3: `where`

Stage 4: `summarize`

Stage 5: `extend`

Stage 6: `extend`

Indicators

Output fields

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

Detect Suspicious Commands Initiated by Webserver Processes

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: source

Stage 2: where

Stage 3: where

Stage 4: summarize

Stage 5: extend

Stage 6: extend

Indicators

Output fields

Stage 1: `source`

Stage 2: `where`

Stage 3: `where`

Stage 4: `summarize`

Stage 5: `extend`

Stage 6: `extend`