SAP NetWeaver Visual Composer Exploitation Attempt

name: SAP NetWeaver Visual Composer Exploitation Attempt
id: a583b9f1-9c3a-4402-9441-b981654dea6c
version: 4
date: '2026-03-27'
author: Michael Haag, Splunk
status: production
type: Hunting
description: |-
    Detects potential exploitation attempts targeting CVE-2025-31324, a critical unauthenticated file upload vulnerability in SAP NetWeaver Visual Composer.
    This flaw allows remote attackers to send specially crafted POST requests to the /developmentserver/metadatauploader endpoint, enabling arbitrary file uploads—commonly webshells—resulting in full system compromise.
    The detection looks for HTTP HEAD or POST requests with a 200 OK status to sensitive Visual Composer endpoints, which may indicate reconnaissance or active exploitation.
    Successful exploitation can lead to attackers gaining privileged access, deploying malware, and impacting business-critical SAP resources.
    Immediate patching and investigation of suspicious activity are strongly recommended, as this vulnerability is being actively exploited in the wild.
data_source:
    - Suricata
search: |-
    | tstats `security_content_summariesonly`
      count min(_time) as firstTime
            max(_time) as lastTime

    FROM datamodel=Web.Web WHERE

    Web.url IN (
        "*/ctc/CTCWebService/CTCWebServiceBean",
        "*/CTCWebService/CTCWebServiceBean",
        "*/VisualComposer/services/DesignTimeService"
    )
    Web.http_method IN ("HEAD", "POST")
    Web.status=200

    BY Web.src Web.dest Web.http_method
       Web.url Web.http_user_agent Web.url_length

    | `drop_dm_object_name("Web")`

    | eval action=case(
        http_method="HEAD", "Recon/Probe",
        http_method="POST", "Possible Exploitation"
    )

    | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
    | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`

    | table firstTime lastTime src dest http_method
            action url user_agent url_length

    | `sap_netweaver_visual_composer_exploitation_attempt_filter`
how_to_implement: |-
    Ensure that the Web data model is accelerated and populated with web server or web proxy logs capturing HTTP request and response data.
    This search relies on HTTP method, status code, and URL path fields to identify suspicious access patterns against SAP NetWeaver endpoints.
known_false_positives: |-
    Some legitimate administrative activity may access SAP NetWeaver services. However, HEAD or POST requests directly resulting in a 200 OK
    to Visual Composer endpoints are uncommon and should be investigated carefully.
references:
    - https://onapsis.com/blog/active-exploitation-of-sap-vulnerability-cve-2025-31324/
    - https://reliaquest.com/blog/threat-spotlight-reliaquest-uncovers-vulnerability-behind-sap-netweaver-compromise/
    - https://www.rapid7.com/blog/post/2025/04/28/etr-active-exploitation-of-sap-netweaver-visual-composer-cve-2025-31324/
tags:
    analytic_story:
        - SAP NetWeaver Exploitation
    asset_type: Web Server
    mitre_attack_id:
        - T1190
    product:
        - Splunk Enterprise
        - Splunk Enterprise Security
        - Splunk Cloud
    security_domain: network
    cve:
        - CVE-2025-31324
tests:
    - name: True Positive Test
      attack_data:
        - data: https://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/attack_techniques/T1190/sap/suricata_sapnetweaver.log
          sourcetype: suricata
          source: not_applicable