splunk_escuHunting

Windows Odbcconf Hunting

The following analytic identifies the execution of Odbcconf.exe within the environment. It leverages data from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents, focusing on process creation events where the process name is Odbcconf.exe. This activity is significant because Odbcconf.exe can be used by attackers to execute arbitrary commands or load malicious DLLs, potentially leading to code execution or persistence. If confirmed malicious, this behavior could allow an attacker to maintain access to the system, execute further malicious activities, or escalate privileges, posing a significant threat to the environment.

MITRE ATT&CK

T1218.008

Detection Query

| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime FROM datamodel=Endpoint.Processes
  WHERE Processes.process_name=odbcconf.exe
  BY Processes.action Processes.dest Processes.original_file_name
     Processes.parent_process Processes.parent_process_exec Processes.parent_process_guid
     Processes.parent_process_id Processes.parent_process_name Processes.parent_process_path
     Processes.process Processes.process_exec Processes.process_guid
     Processes.process_hash Processes.process_id Processes.process_integrity_level
     Processes.process_name Processes.process_path Processes.user
     Processes.user_id Processes.vendor_product
| `drop_dm_object_name(Processes)`
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
| `windows_odbcconf_hunting_filter`

Author

Michael Haag, Splunk

Created

2026-02-25

Data Sources

Sysmon EventID 1Windows Event Log Security 4688CrowdStrike ProcessRollup2

References

Tags

Living Off The Land

Raw Content

name: Windows Odbcconf Hunting
id: 0562ad4b-fdaa-4882-b12f-7b8e0034cd72
version: 8
date: '2026-02-25'
author: Michael Haag, Splunk
status: production
type: Hunting
description: The following analytic identifies the execution of Odbcconf.exe within the environment. It leverages data from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents, focusing on process creation events where the process name is Odbcconf.exe. This activity is significant because Odbcconf.exe can be used by attackers to execute arbitrary commands or load malicious DLLs, potentially leading to code execution or persistence. If confirmed malicious, this behavior could allow an attacker to maintain access to the system, execute further malicious activities, or escalate privileges, posing a significant threat to the environment.
data_source:
    - Sysmon EventID 1
    - Windows Event Log Security 4688
    - CrowdStrike ProcessRollup2
search: |-
    | tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime FROM datamodel=Endpoint.Processes
      WHERE Processes.process_name=odbcconf.exe
      BY Processes.action Processes.dest Processes.original_file_name
         Processes.parent_process Processes.parent_process_exec Processes.parent_process_guid
         Processes.parent_process_id Processes.parent_process_name Processes.parent_process_path
         Processes.process Processes.process_exec Processes.process_guid
         Processes.process_hash Processes.process_id Processes.process_integrity_level
         Processes.process_name Processes.process_path Processes.user
         Processes.user_id Processes.vendor_product
    | `drop_dm_object_name(Processes)`
    | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
    | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
    | `windows_odbcconf_hunting_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: False positives will be present as this is meant to assist with filtering and tuning.
references:
    - https://strontic.github.io/xcyclopedia/library/odbcconf.exe-07FBA12552331355C103999806627314.html
    - https://twitter.com/redcanary/status/1541838407894171650?s=20&t=kp3WBPtfnyA3xW7D7wx0uw
tags:
    analytic_story:
        - Living Off The Land
    asset_type: Endpoint
    mitre_attack_id:
        - T1218.008
    product:
        - Splunk Enterprise
        - Splunk Enterprise Security
        - Splunk Cloud
    security_domain: endpoint
tests:
    - name: True Positive Test
      attack_data:
        - data: https://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/attack_techniques/T1218.008/atomic_red_team/windows-sysmon-odbc-regsvr.log
          source: XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational
          sourcetype: XmlWinEventLog