ThreatFox: Kimwolf IOCs

Hunt Hypothesis

The ThreatFox: Kimwolf IOCs rule detects potential adversary activity linked to the Kimwolf threat group, which is associated with high-impact ransomware operations. SOC teams should proactively hunt for this behavior in Azure Sentinel to identify and mitigate early-stage compromises before significant damage occurs.

IOC Summary

Malware Family: Kimwolf Total IOCs: 2 IOC Types: ip:port

KQL: Ip Hunt

// Hunt for network connections to known malicious IPs
// Source: ThreatFox - Kimwolf
let malicious_ips = dynamic(["64.225.65.127", "167.99.47.245"]);
CommonSecurityLog
| where DestinationIP in (malicious_ips) or SourceIP in (malicious_ips)
| project TimeGenerated, SourceIP, DestinationIP, DestinationPort, DeviceAction, Activity
| order by TimeGenerated desc

KQL: Ip Hunt Device

// Hunt in Defender for Endpoint network events
let malicious_ips = dynamic(["64.225.65.127", "167.99.47.245"]);
DeviceNetworkEvents
| where RemoteIP in (malicious_ips)
| project Timestamp, DeviceName, RemoteIP, RemotePort, InitiatingProcessFileName, ActionType
| order by Timestamp desc

Required Data Sources

References

• ThreatFox — Kimwolf

False Positive Guidance

• Scenario: Scheduled System Backup Using Veeam Backup & Replication
  Description: A legitimate scheduled backup job using Veeam Backup & Replication may generate network traffic that matches Kimwolf IOCs (e.g., connecting to a known IP or using a specific port).
  Filter/Exclusion: Exclude traffic originating from or destined to the Veeam backup server IP, or filter by process name VeeamBackup.exe.

• Scenario: Windows Task Scheduler Running Admin Tasks
  Description: A legitimate administrative task, such as updating system drivers or running a PowerShell script via Task Scheduler, might trigger the rule if it uses a tool or script that matches Kimwolf IOCs.
  Filter/Exclusion: Exclude processes launched by schtasks.exe or filter by user account (e.g., SYSTEM or Administrator).

• Scenario: Database Maintenance Job Using SQL Server Agent
  Description: A SQL Server Agent job performing routine maintenance (e.g., index rebuilds, log truncation) may use a tool or script that is flagged by the Kimwolf detection logic.
  Filter/Exclusion: Exclude processes associated with SQL Server Agent (sqlagent.exe) or filter by the SQL Server service account.

• Scenario: Log Collection Using Splunk Forwarder
  Description: A Splunk Universal Forwarder sending logs to a central Splunk server may generate traffic that matches Kimwolf IOCs, especially if the forwarder is configured to use a specific IP or port.
  Filter/Exclusion: Exclude traffic from the Splunk forwarder IP or filter by process name splunkforwarder.exe.

• Scenario: Software Update Deployment Using Microsoft Endpoint Manager (MEM)
  Description: A software update deployment via Microsoft Endpoint Manager may involve communication with Microsoft servers that could be misidentified as Kimwolf IOCs.
  *Filter/Exclusion