Cisco Secure Firewall - Static Tundra Smart Install Abuse

name: Cisco Secure Firewall - Static Tundra Smart Install Abuse
id: 7e9a5a2c-2f1a-4b6a-9a4b-9e7d9c8f5a21
version: 5
date: '2026-03-10'
author: Bhavin Patel, Michael Haag, Splunk
status: production
type: TTP
description: |
    This analytic detects activity associated with "Static Tundra" threat actor abuse of the Cisco Smart Install (SMI) protocol
    using Cisco Secure Firewall Intrusion Events. It leverages Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense IntrusionEvent logs to
    identify occurrences of Smart Install exploitation and protocol abuse, including denial-of-service and buffer overflow
    attempts. The detection triggers when multiple Cisco Smart Install-related Snort signatures are observed in a short period from the
    same source, which is indicative of active exploitation or reconnaissance against Cisco devices that expose SMI.
data_source:
    - Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense Intrusion Event
search: |
    `cisco_secure_firewall` EventType=IntrusionEvent signature_id IN (46468, 46096, 41722, 41723, 41724, 41725)
    | bin _time span=15m
    | fillnull
    | stats dc(signature_id) as unique_signature_count
            values(signature_id) as signature_id
            values(signature) as signature
            values(class_desc) as class_desc
            values(MitreAttackGroups) as MitreAttackGroups
            values(InlineResult) as InlineResult
            values(InlineResultReason) as InlineResultReason
            values(dest) as dest
            values(dest_port) as dest_port
            values(rule) as rule
            values(transport) as transport
            values(app) as app
            min(_time) as firstTime
            max(_time) as lastTime
            by src
    | where unique_signature_count >= 2
    | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
    | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
    | `cisco_secure_firewall___static_tundra_smart_install_abuse_filter`
how_to_implement: |
    This search requires Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense logs with IntrusionEvent data. It uses the `cisco_secure_firewall`
    input macro; configure it to match your environment (index, source, sourcetype). Ensure your intrusion policies include the
    relevant Smart Install signatures and that events are collected via the Splunk Add-on for Cisco Security Cloud
    (https://splunkbase.splunk.com/app/7404). The post-filter macro helps reduce known noise.
known_false_positives: |
    Network scanning or testing tools that probe Cisco Smart Install endpoints may trigger similar signatures.
    Validate against maintenance windows or approved security assessments.
references:
    - https://blog.talosintelligence.com/static-tundra/
    - https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20180328-smi2
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 ("$dest$") starthoursago=168  | 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: $info_min_time$
      latest_offset: $info_max_time$
rba:
    message: Smart Install exploitation or protocol abuse targeting $dest$ originating from $src$
    risk_objects:
        - field: dest
          type: system
          score: 50
    threat_objects:
        - field: src
          type: ip_address
        - field: signature
          type: signature
tags:
    analytic_story:
        - Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense Analytics
        - Cisco Smart Install Remote Code Execution CVE-2018-0171
    asset_type: Network
    security_domain: network
    mitre_attack_id:
        - T1190
        - T1210
        - T1499
    product:
        - Splunk Enterprise
        - Splunk Cloud
        - Splunk Enterprise Security
tests:
    - name: True Positive Test
      attack_data:
        - data: https://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/cisco_secure_firewall_threat_defense/static_tundra/static_tundra.log
          source: not_applicable
          sourcetype: cisco:sfw:estreamer