Weblog Detection of Apache Spark Shell Command Injection Payloads (?doAs=`)

Alerts on web requests containing "?doAs=`" that may indicate Spark shell command injection attempts.

FreeReviewedSigma · High · v5
Category
webserver
Author
Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2022-07-19
Updated
2026-07-31

ATT&CK techniques

Initial Access
  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Execution

  4. Persistence

  5. Priv Esc

  6. Defense Evasion

  7. Cred Access

  8. Discovery

  9. Lateral Movement

  10. Collection

  11. C2

  12. Exfiltration

  13. Impact

What it detects

This rule flags web requests recorded in weblogs whose query string contains the specific payload fragment "?doAs=`", indicative of an Apache Spark shell command injection attempt. Attackers may use this kind of injection to execute unintended commands through vulnerable Spark request handling. The detection relies on webserver request telemetry that captures the full URI query as a string in the weblogs.

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Changelog

v5
  1. v5
    Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
  2. v4
    Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
  3. v3
    Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
  4. v2
    Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
  5. v1
    No changelog recorded for this version.2026-07-30

Detection content is published as a reviewed draft. Tune thresholds and exclusions against your own telemetry before enabling this rule for alerting.