SPL Command Safeguards Bypass via the ‘pivot’ SPL Command in Splunk Enterprise

Description

In Splunk Enterprise versions below 8.1.13, 8.2.10, and 9.0.4, the ‘pivot’ search processing language (SPL) command lets a search bypass SPL safeguards for risky commands using a saved search job. The vulnerability requires an authenticated user to craft the saved job and a higher privileged user to initiate a request within their browser. The vulnerability affects instances with Splunk Web enabled.

Solution

For Splunk Enterprise, upgrade versions to 8.1.13, 8.2.10, 9.0.4, or higher.

For Splunk Cloud Platform, Splunk is actively patching and monitoring the Splunk Cloud instances.

Product Status

Mitigations and Workarounds

The vulnerability affects instances with Splunk Web enabled; disabling Splunk Web is a possible workaround. See Disable unnecessary Splunk Enterprise components and the web.conf configuration specification file for more information on disabling Splunk Web.

Detections

• Splunk Risky Command Abuse disclosed February 2023

This hunting search provides information on potential abuse of the ‘pivot’ SPL command on Splunk Enterprise versions below 8.1.13, 8.2.10, and 9.0.4.

Severity

Splunk rated the vulnerability as High, 7.3, with a CVSSv3.1 vector of CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N. The vulnerability requires user access to craft a saved job, which reduces the severity compared to other SPL command safeguard bypasses.

If the Splunk Enterprise instance does not run Splunk Web, there is no impact and the severity is Informational.

Acknowledgments

Anton (therceman)