MacOS Network Share Discovery


Description

Identifies execution of network share enumeration commands (smbutil, showmount) that can be leveraged by adversaries to discover accessible SMB and NFS resources, supporting internal reconnaissance and potential lateral movement.

Query · spl

| tstats `security_content_summariesonly`
  count min(_time) as firstTime
        max(_time) as lastTime

from datamodel=Endpoint.Processes where

Processes.process IN ("*showmount *", "*smbutil *")

by Processes.dest Processes.original_file_name Processes.parent_process_id
   Processes.process Processes.process_exec Processes.process_guid
   Processes.process_hash Processes.process_id
   Processes.process_current_directory 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)`
| `macos_network_share_discovery_filter`

Implementation guide

This detection uses osquery and endpoint security on MacOS. Follow the link in references, which describes how to setup process auditing in MacOS with endpoint security and osquery. Also the TA-OSquery must be deployed across your indexers and universal forwarders in order to have the osquery data populate the data models.

Known false positives

  • Administrators may utilize these tools occasionaly for troubleshooting.

Analyst notes

Known false positives: Administrators may utilize these tools occasionaly for troubleshooting.

Raw source MacOS Network Share Discovery · SPL
Esc
Published by splunk/security_content ↗, licensed under Apache 2.0 ↗. Reproduced here unmodified.
name: MacOS Network Share Discovery
id: a5f5fe52-8e50-4fb0-ad1b-780be6c0d857
version: 3
creation_date: '2026-04-14'
modification_date: '2026-05-13'
author: Raven Tait, Splunk
status: production
type: Anomaly
description: |-
    Identifies execution of network share enumeration commands (smbutil, showmount) that can be leveraged by adversaries to discover accessible SMB and NFS resources, supporting internal reconnaissance and potential lateral movement.
data_source:
    - Osquery Results
search: |-
    | tstats `security_content_summariesonly`
      count min(_time) as firstTime
            max(_time) as lastTime

    from datamodel=Endpoint.Processes where

    Processes.process IN ("*showmount *", "*smbutil *")

    by Processes.dest Processes.original_file_name Processes.parent_process_id
       Processes.process Processes.process_exec Processes.process_guid
       Processes.process_hash Processes.process_id
       Processes.process_current_directory 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)`
    | `macos_network_share_discovery_filter`
how_to_implement: |-
    This detection uses osquery and endpoint security on MacOS. Follow the link in references, which describes how to setup process auditing in MacOS with endpoint security and osquery.
    Also the [TA-OSquery](https://splunkbase.splunk.com/app/8574) must be deployed across your indexers and universal forwarders in order to have the osquery data populate the data models.
known_false_positives: |-
    Administrators may utilize these tools occasionaly for troubleshooting.
references:
    - https://osquery.readthedocs.io/en/stable/deployment/process-auditing/
    - https://leopard-adc.pepas.com/documentation/Darwin/Reference/ManPages/man8/showmount.8.html
    - https://www.unix.com/man_page/osx/1/smbutil/
drilldown_searches:
    - name: View the detection results for - "$user$" and "$dest$"
      search: '%original_detection_search% | search  user = "$user$" dest = "$dest$"'
      earliest_offset: $info_min_time$
      latest_offset: $info_max_time$
    - name: View risk events for the last 7 days for - "$user$" and "$dest$"
      search: '| from datamodel Risk.All_Risk | search normalized_risk_object IN ("$user$", "$dest$") | 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: 7d
      latest_offset: "0"
intermediate_findings:
    entities:
        - field: user
          type: user
          score: 20
          message: Network share information enumerated on $dest$ by $user$ via $process$
        - field: dest
          type: system
          score: 20
          message: Network share information enumerated on $dest$ by $user$ via $process$
threat_objects:
    - field: process
      type: process
analytic_story:
    - MacOS Post-Exploitation
asset_type: Endpoint
mitre_attack_id:
    - T1135
product:
    - Splunk Enterprise
    - Splunk Enterprise Security
    - Splunk Cloud
category: endpoint
security_domain: endpoint
tests:
    - name: True Positive Test
      attack_data:
        - data: https://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/attack_techniques/T1135/osquery_share_discovery/osquery.log
          source: osquery
          sourcetype: osquery:results
      test_type: unit

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