Spring4Shell Payload URL Request

name: Spring4Shell Payload URL Request
id: 9d44d649-7d67-4559-95c1-8022ff49420b
version: 8
date: '2026-03-10'
author: Michael Haag, Splunk
status: production
type: TTP
description: The following analytic detects attempts to exploit the Spring4Shell vulnerability (CVE-2022-22963) by identifying specific URL patterns associated with web shell payloads. It leverages web traffic data, focusing on HTTP GET requests with URLs containing indicators like "tomcatwar.jsp," "poc.jsp," and "shell.jsp." This activity is significant as it suggests an attacker is trying to deploy a web shell, which can lead to remote code execution. If confirmed malicious, this could allow the attacker to gain persistent access, execute arbitrary commands, and potentially escalate privileges within the compromised environment.
data_source:
    - Nginx Access
search: |-
    | tstats count FROM datamodel=Web
      WHERE Web.http_method IN ("GET") Web.url IN ("*tomcatwar.jsp*","*poc.jsp*","*shell.jsp*")
      BY Web.http_user_agent Web.http_method, Web.url,Web.url_length
         Web.src, Web.dest sourcetype
    | `drop_dm_object_name("Web")`
    | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
    | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
    | `spring4shell_payload_url_request_filter`
how_to_implement: To successfully implement this search you need to be ingesting information on Web traffic that include fields relavent for traffic into the `Web` datamodel.
known_false_positives: The jsp file names are static names used in current proof of concept code. =
references:
    - https://www.microsoft.com/security/blog/2022/04/04/springshell-rce-vulnerability-guidance-for-protecting-against-and-detecting-cve-2022-22965/
    - https://github.com/TheGejr/SpringShell
    - https://www.tenable.com/blog/spring4shell-faq-spring-framework-remote-code-execution-vulnerability
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: A URL was requested related to Spring4Shell POC code on $dest$ by $src$.
    risk_objects:
        - field: dest
          type: system
          score: 50
    threat_objects:
        - field: src
          type: ip_address
tags:
    analytic_story:
        - Spring4Shell CVE-2022-22965
    asset_type: Web Server
    cve:
        - CVE-2022-22965
    mitre_attack_id:
        - T1133
        - T1190
        - T1505.003
    product:
        - Splunk Enterprise
        - Splunk Enterprise Security
        - Splunk Cloud
    security_domain: network
tests:
    - name: True Positive Test
      attack_data:
        - data: https://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/attack_techniques/T1190/spring4shell/spring4shell_nginx.log
          source: /var/log/nginx/access.log
          sourcetype: nginx:plus:kv