Windows Level RMM Watchdog Task Created

name: Windows Level RMM Watchdog Task Created
id: c4abe40f-91fb-42c0-bcc1-74ada766d0d8
version: 2
creation_date: '2026-05-05'
modification_date: '2026-05-13'
author: Raven Tait, Splunk
status: production
type: Anomaly
description: |-
    Detects the watchdog task created when Level is installed.
    Level is a commercial remote management tool from Level.io.
    Remote management tools, when used for legitimate purposes, can help IT professionals and system administrators remotely access and manage computer systems.
    However, threat actors may exploit these tools for malicious purposes.
    It can be used to maintain persistence and execution on a host by a malicious actor.
data_source:
    - Windows Event Log Security 4698
search: |-
    `wineventlog_security`
    EventID="4698"
    TaskName="\\Level\\Level Watchdog"
    | fillnull
    | stats count min(_time) as firstTime
                  max(_time) as lastTime
      by EventID TaskName Computer
    
    | rename Computer as dest
    | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
    | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
    | `windows_level_rmm_watchdog_task_created_filter`
how_to_implement: The detection is based on data that originates from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents. These agents are designed to provide security-related telemetry from the endpoints where the agent is installed. To implement this search, you must ingest logs that contain the process GUID, process name, and parent process. Additionally, you must ingest complete command-line executions. These logs must be processed using the appropriate Splunk Technology Add-ons that are specific to the EDR product. The logs must also be mapped to the `Processes` node of the `Endpoint` data model. Use the Splunk Common Information Model (CIM) to normalize the field names and speed up the data modeling process.
known_false_positives: Legitimate IT professionals and system administrators may use Level remote management tools for authorized access and maintenance. Filter alerts for approved remote management software to reduce false positives.
references:
    - https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/cybersecurity-advisories/aa23-320a
drilldown_searches:
    - earliest_offset: $info_min_time$
      latest_offset: $info_max_time$
      name: View the detection results for - "$user$" and "$dest$"
      search: '%original_detection_search% | search  user = "$user$" dest = "$dest$"'
    - name: View risk events for the last 7 days for - "$user$" and "$dest$"
      search: '| from datamodel Risk.All_Risk | search normalized_risk_object IN ("$user$", "$dest$") | 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: Level RRM Watchdog task [$TaskName$] created on $dest$.
analytic_story:
    - Remote Monitoring and Management Software
asset_type: Endpoint
mitre_attack_id:
    - T1053
    - T1219
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/T1053/snapattack/snapattack.log
          source: XmlWinEventLog:Security
          sourcetype: XmlWinEventLog
      test_type: unit