Detection rules › Sublime MQL

Newly registered sender or reply-to domain with newly registered linked domain

Severity
medium
Type
rule
Source
github.com/sublime-security/sublime-rules

This rule detects inbound emails that contain links and a reply-to address, where either the sender domain or the reply-to domain is newly registered (≤30 days old), and at least one linked domain is also very new (≤14 days old). It flags potential phishing or business email compromise attempts that use recently created infrastructure and reply-to mismatch tactics to bypass trust and impersonate legitimate contacts.

Threat classification

Sublime's own taxonomy (not MITRE ATT&CK).

CategoryValues
Attack typesBEC/Fraud, Credential Phishing, Malware/Ransomware
Tactics and techniquesSocial engineering

Event coverage

Rule body MQL

type.inbound
and length(body.links) > 0
and length(headers.reply_to) > 0
and (
  any(headers.reply_to,
      network.whois(.email.domain).days_old <= 30
      and .email.email != sender.email.email
  )
  or network.whois(sender.email.domain).days_old <= 30
)
and any(distinct(body.links, .href_url.domain.root_domain),
        network.whois(.href_url.domain).days_old < 14
)

Detection logic

Scope: inbound message.

This rule detects inbound emails that contain links and a reply-to address, where either the sender domain or the reply-to domain is newly registered (≤30 days old), and at least one linked domain is also very new (≤14 days old). It flags potential phishing or business email compromise attempts that use recently created infrastructure and reply-to mismatch tactics to bypass trust and impersonate legitimate contacts.

  1. inbound message
  2. length(body.links) > 0
  3. length(headers.reply_to) > 0
  4. any of:
    • any of headers.reply_to where all hold:
      • network.whois(.email.domain).days_old ≤ 30
      • .email.email is not sender.email.email
    • network.whois(sender.email.domain).days_old ≤ 30
  5. any of distinct(body.links) where:
    • network.whois(.href_url.domain).days_old < 14

Inspects: body.links, body.links[].href_url.domain.root_domain, headers.reply_to, headers.reply_to[].email.domain, headers.reply_to[].email.email, sender.email.domain, sender.email.email, type.inbound. Sensors: network.whois.