Windows Potential Web Shell Creation For VMware Workspace ONE

name: Windows Potential Web Shell Creation For VMware Workspace ONE
id: 7d15f645-58cc-4cb7-a9bf-2dcf15bc4b28
version: 2
creation_date: '2026-05-05'
modification_date: '2026-05-13'
author: Raven Tait, Splunk
status: production
type: Anomaly
description: |-
    This analytic looks for evidence of web shells being created in the VMware Workspace ONE path on Windows or Linux systems, which has been actively exploited by attackers via CVE-2022-22954.
data_source:
    - Sysmon EventID 11
search: |-
    | tstats `security_content_summariesonly`
      count min(_time) as firstTime
            max(_time) as lastTime
    
    from datamodel=Endpoint.Filesystem where
    
    Filesystem.file_path IN (
        "*/vmware/horizon/workspace/webapps/*",
        "*\\vmware\\horizon\\workspace\\webapps\\*"
    )
    Filesystem.file_path="*.jsp"
    
    by Filesystem.dest Filesystem.file_create_time Filesystem.process_path
       Filesystem.process_guid Filesystem.process_id Filesystem.file_path Filesystem.file_name
       Filesystem.user Filesystem.vendor_product Filesystem.action
    
    | `drop_dm_object_name(Filesystem)`
    | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
    | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
    | `windows_potential_web_shell_creation_for_vmware_workspace_one_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: Some legitimate software updates or administrative scripts may create files in the VMware Workspace ONE path, triggering alerts. Review and allow trusted processes to reduce false positives.
references:
    - https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/cve-2022-22954-vmware-vulnerabilities/
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: 50
          message: Potential VMware Workspace ONE web shell file created at $file_path$ on $dest$.
threat_objects:
    - field: file_path
      type: file_path
analytic_story:
    - VMware Aria Operations vRealize CVE-2023-20887
    - VMware Server Side Injection and Privilege Escalation
    - VMware ESXi AD Integration Authentication Bypass CVE-2024-37085
asset_type: Endpoint
mitre_attack_id:
    - T1505.003
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/T1505.003/snapattack/snapattack.log
          source: XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational
          sourcetype: XmlWinEventLog
      test_type: unit