Detection rules › Splunk
Non Firefox Process Access Firefox Profile Dir
The following analytic detects non-Firefox processes accessing the Firefox profile directory, which contains sensitive user data such as login credentials, browsing history, and cookies. It leverages Windows Security Event logs, specifically event code 4663, to monitor access attempts. This activity is significant because it may indicate attempts by malware, such as RATs or trojans, to harvest user information. If confirmed malicious, this behavior could lead to data exfiltration, unauthorized access to user accounts, and further compromise of the affected system.
MITRE ATT&CK coverage
| Tactic | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Credential Access | T1555.003 Credentials from Password Stores: Credentials from Web Browsers |
Event coverage
| Provider | Event | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Security-Auditing | Event ID 4663 | An attempt was made to access an object. |
Rule body splunk
name: Non Firefox Process Access Firefox Profile Dir
id: e6fc13b0-1609-11ec-b533-acde48001122
version: 18
creation_date: '2021-09-15'
modification_date: '2026-05-13'
author: Teoderick Contreras, Splunk
status: production
type: Anomaly
description: The following analytic detects non-Firefox processes accessing the Firefox profile directory, which contains sensitive user data such as login credentials, browsing history, and cookies. It leverages Windows Security Event logs, specifically event code 4663, to monitor access attempts. This activity is significant because it may indicate attempts by malware, such as RATs or trojans, to harvest user information. If confirmed malicious, this behavior could lead to data exfiltration, unauthorized access to user accounts, and further compromise of the affected system.
data_source:
- Windows Event Log Security 4663
search: '`wineventlog_security` EventCode=4663 NOT (ProcessName IN ("*\\firefox.exe", "*\\explorer.exe", "*sql*")) ObjectName="*\\AppData\\Roaming\\Mozilla\\Firefox\\Profiles*" | stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime by ObjectName ObjectType ProcessName AccessMask EventCode dest | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` | `non_firefox_process_access_firefox_profile_dir_filter`'
how_to_implement: To successfully implement this search, you must ingest Windows Security Event logs and track event code 4663. For 4663, enable "Audit Object Access" in Group Policy. Then check the two boxes listed for both "Success" and "Failure."
known_false_positives: other browser not listed related to firefox may catch by this rule.
references: []
drilldown_searches:
- name: View the detection results for - "$dest$"
search: '%original_detection_search% | search dest = "$dest$"'
earliest_offset: $info_min_time$
latest_offset: $info_max_time$
- name: View risk events for the last 7 days for - "$dest$"
search: '| from datamodel Risk.All_Risk | search normalized_risk_object IN ("$dest$") | stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime values(search_name) as "Search Name" values(risk_message) as "Risk Message" values(analyticstories) as "Analytic Stories" values(annotations._all) as "Annotations" values(annotations.mitre_attack.mitre_tactic) as "ATT&CK Tactics" by normalized_risk_object | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`'
earliest_offset: 7d
latest_offset: "0"
intermediate_findings:
entities:
- field: dest
type: system
score: 20
message: a non firefox browser process $ProcessName$ accessing $ObjectName$
analytic_story:
- StealC Stealer
- DarkGate Malware
- CISA AA23-347A
- NjRAT
- Phemedrone Stealer
- Azorult
- Salt Typhoon
- Remcos
- Warzone RAT
- Quasar RAT
- 3CX Supply Chain Attack
- AgentTesla
- RedLine Stealer
- SnappyBee
- Malicious Inno Setup Loader
- FIN7
- Snake Keylogger
- China-Nexus Threat Activity
- 0bj3ctivity Stealer
- Lokibot
- BlankGrabber Stealer
- VIP Keylogger
asset_type: Endpoint
mitre_attack_id:
- T1555.003
product:
- Splunk Enterprise
- Splunk Enterprise Security
- Splunk Cloud
category: endpoint
security_domain: endpoint
tests:
- name: True Positive Test
attack_data:
- data: https://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/attack_techniques/T1555/non_chrome_process_accessing_chrome_default_dir/windows-xml.log
source: XmlWinEventLog:Security
sourcetype: XmlWinEventLog
test_type: unit
Stages and Predicates
Stage 1: search
`wineventlog_security` EventCode=4663 NOT (ProcessName IN ("*\\firefox.exe", "*\\explorer.exe", "*sql*")) ObjectName="*\\AppData\\Roaming\\Mozilla\\Firefox\\Profiles*"
Stage 2: stats
| stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime by ObjectName ObjectType ProcessName AccessMask EventCode dest
Stage 3: search
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
Stage 4: search
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
Stage 5: search
| `non_firefox_process_access_firefox_profile_dir_filter`
Exclusions
Top-level NOT(...) conjuncts: predicates this rule actively suppresses.
| Field | Kind | Excluded values |
|---|---|---|
ProcessName | in | "*\\explorer.exe", "*\\firefox.exe", "*sql*" |
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 |
|---|---|---|
EventCode | eq |
|
ObjectName | eq |
|