Detection rules › Splunk

GitHub Enterprise Disable IP Allow List

Status
production
Severity
low
Group by
"actor_location.country_code", action, actor, actor_id, actor_is_bot, aws::userAgent, business, business_id, user_id
Author
Patrick Bareiss, Splunk
Source
github.com/splunk/security_content

The following analytic identifies when an IP allow list is disabled in GitHub Enterprise. The detection monitors GitHub Enterprise audit logs for actions related to disabling IP allow lists at the organization or enterprise level. This behavior is concerning because IP allow lists are a critical security control that restricts access to GitHub Enterprise resources to only trusted IP addresses. When disabled, it could indicate an attacker attempting to bypass access controls to gain unauthorized access from untrusted networks. The impact includes potential exposure of sensitive code repositories and GitHub Enterprise resources to access from any IP address. SOC teams should investigate such events, especially if they were not pre-approved changes, as they may indicate compromise of admin credentials or malicious insider activity.

Known false positives

  • No false positives have been identified at this time.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

TacticTechniques
Initial Access
Defense Impairment

Telemetry coverage

Rules detecting the same action

These rules filter on the same operation.

Rule body

name: GitHub Enterprise Disable IP Allow List
id: afed020e-edcd-4913-a675-cebedf81d4fb
version: 8
creation_date: '2025-01-15'
modification_date: '2026-05-13'
author: Patrick Bareiss, Splunk
status: production
type: Anomaly
description: The following analytic identifies when an IP allow list is disabled in GitHub Enterprise. The detection monitors GitHub Enterprise audit logs for actions related to disabling IP allow lists at the organization or enterprise level. This behavior is concerning because IP allow lists are a critical security control that restricts access to GitHub Enterprise resources to only trusted IP addresses. When disabled, it could indicate an attacker attempting to bypass access controls to gain unauthorized access from untrusted networks. The impact includes potential exposure of sensitive code repositories and GitHub Enterprise resources to access from any IP address. SOC teams should investigate such events, especially if they were not pre-approved changes, as they may indicate compromise of admin credentials or malicious insider activity.
data_source:
    - GitHub Enterprise Audit Logs
search: |-
    `github_enterprise` action=ip_allow_list.disable
      | fillnull
      | stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime
        BY actor, actor_id, actor_is_bot,
           actor_location.country_code, business, business_id,
           user_agent, user_id, action
      | eval user=actor
      | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
      | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
      | `github_enterprise_disable_ip_allow_list_filter`
how_to_implement: You must ingest GitHub Enterprise logs using Audit log streaming as described in this documentation https://docs.github.com/en/enterprise-cloud@latest/admin/monitoring-activity-in-your-enterprise/reviewing-audit-logs-for-your-enterprise/streaming-the-audit-log-for-your-enterprise#setting-up-streaming-to-splunk using a Splunk HTTP Event Collector.
known_false_positives: No false positives have been identified at this time.
references:
    - https://www.googlecloudcommunity.com/gc/Community-Blog/Monitoring-for-Suspicious-GitHub-Activity-with-Google-Security/ba-p/763610
    - https://docs.github.com/en/enterprise-cloud@latest/admin/monitoring-activity-in-your-enterprise/reviewing-audit-logs-for-your-enterprise/streaming-the-audit-log-for-your-enterprise#setting-up-streaming-to-splunk
intermediate_findings:
    entities:
        - field: user
          type: user
          score: 20
          message: $user$ disabled an IP allow list in GitHub Enterprise
threat_objects:
    - field: user_agent
      type: http_user_agent
analytic_story:
    - GitHub Malicious Activity
asset_type: GitHub
mitre_attack_id:
    - T1685
    - T1195
product:
    - Splunk Enterprise
    - Splunk Enterprise Security
    - Splunk Cloud
category: cloud
security_domain: network

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: search

`github_enterprise` action=ip_allow_list.disable

Stage 2: fillnull

| fillnull

Stage 3: stats

| stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime
    BY actor, actor_id, actor_is_bot,
       actor_location.country_code, business, business_id,
       user_agent, user_id, action

Stage 4: eval

| eval user=actor

Stage 5: search

| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`

Stage 6: search

| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`

Stage 7: search

| `github_enterprise_disable_ip_allow_list_filter`

Indicators

These rows show field, operator, and value matches.