↳ GitHub sourceAnalytics ruleHigh
Detect Suspicious Commands Initiated by Webserver Processes
Description
This query was originally published in the threat analytics report, Operation Soft Cell.
Operation Soft Cell is a series of campaigns targeting users' call logs at telecommunications providers throughout the world. These attacks date from as early as 2012.
Operation Soft Cell operators sometimes use legitimate web server processes to launch commands, especially for network discovery and user/owner discovery. The following query detects activity of this kind.
Reference - https://www.cybereason.com/blog/operation-soft-cell-a-worldwide-campaign-against-telecommunications-providers
- Rule type
- Scheduled
- Version
- 1.0.0
- Declared status
- Available
- Query frequency
- 1h
- Query period
- 1h
- Trigger
- gt 0
Declared MITRE coverage
Declared sources
Metadata from the source file. No dependencies inferred from KQL.
Connectors
Data types
KQL query
Original query, unchanged.
// Suspicious commands launched by web server processes
DeviceProcessEvents
| where (((InitiatingProcessParentFileName in("w3wp.exe", "beasvc.exe",
"httpd.exe") or InitiatingProcessParentFileName startswith "tomcat")
or InitiatingProcessFileName in("w3wp.exe", "beasvc.exe", "httpd.exe") or
InitiatingProcessFileName startswith "tomcat"))
and FileName in~('cmd.exe', 'powershell.exe')
| where ProcessCommandLine contains '%temp%'
or ProcessCommandLine has 'wget'
or ProcessCommandLine has 'whoami'
or ProcessCommandLine has 'certutil'
or ProcessCommandLine has 'systeminfo'
or ProcessCommandLine has 'ping'
or ProcessCommandLine has 'ipconfig'
or ProcessCommandLine has 'timeout'
| summarize
take_any(FileName),
make_set(ProcessCommandLine, 100000),
take_any(InitiatingProcessFileName),
take_any(InitiatingProcessParentFileName)
by DeviceId, DeviceName
| extend HostName = iff(DeviceName has '.', substring(DeviceName, 0, indexof(DeviceName, '.')), DeviceName)
| extend DnsDomain = iff(DeviceName has '.', substring(DeviceName, indexof(DeviceName, '.') + 1), "")
Declared entities
Related content
Links established from declared identifiers and solution manifests.
Source provenance
GitHubDisplayed values come from files in Azure/Azure-Sentinel. They describe the published template, not your workspace configuration.
- Commit
9800e51↗- Source identifier
fa2f7d8a-6726-465a-aa72-6f6e3d4c99d7
GSTEP / CATALOG TRACKING
Added to catalog : 16 Sept 2026 · 05:49 UTC
Last change observed : 16 Sept 2026 · 05:49 UTC