Citrix ADC/ADS Exploitation Attempts Targeting RAPI and PCIDSS Paths (CVE-2020-8193/8195)
Flags Citrix ADC/NetScaler HTTP requests whose URI queries match exploitation-related patterns for CVE-2020-8193 and CVE-2020-8195.
- Category
- webserver
- Author
- Florian Roth (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
- Published
- 2020-07-10
- Updated
- 2026-07-31
ATT&CK techniques
Initial AccessRecon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact
What it detects
This rule flags webserver requests whose query strings match specific Citrix ADC/ADS exploitation patterns associated with CVE-2020-8193 and CVE-2020-8195. The behavior matters because attackers may use crafted application-layer requests to trigger vulnerable code paths for unauthorized access or payload delivery. Detection relies on HTTP webserver telemetry, specifically the presence of targeted substrings within the request URI query parameters.
Reporting behind it
- support.citrix.comhttps://support.citrix.com/article/CTX276688
- research.nccgroup.comhttps://research.nccgroup.com/2020/07/10/rift-citrix-adc-vulnerabilities-cve-2020-8193-cve-2020-8195-and-cve-2020-8196-intelligence/
- dmaasland.github.iohttps://dmaasland.github.io/posts/citrix.html
- github.comhttps://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules-emerging-threats/2020/Exploits/CVE-2020-8193/web_cve_2020_8193_8195_citrix_exploit.yml
Changelog
v5- v5Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
- v4Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
- v3Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
- v2Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
- v1No 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.
title: Citrix ADC/ADS Exploitation Attempts Targeting RAPI and PCIDSS Paths (CVE-2020-8193/8195)
id: 745bba89-ee68-412b-aecd-b4844be80ef0
status: test
description: This rule flags webserver requests whose query strings match specific Citrix ADC/ADS exploitation patterns associated with CVE-2020-8193 and CVE-2020-8195. The behavior matters because attackers may use crafted application-layer requests to trigger vulnerable code paths for unauthorized access or payload delivery. Detection relies on HTTP webserver telemetry, specifically the presence of targeted substrings within the request URI query parameters.
references:
- https://support.citrix.com/article/CTX276688
- https://research.nccgroup.com/2020/07/10/rift-citrix-adc-vulnerabilities-cve-2020-8193-cve-2020-8195-and-cve-2020-8196-intelligence/
- https://dmaasland.github.io/posts/citrix.html
- https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules-emerging-threats/2020/Exploits/CVE-2020-8193/web_cve_2020_8193_8195_citrix_exploit.yml
author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), Huntrule Team
date: 2020-07-10
modified: 2023-01-02
tags:
- attack.initial-access
- attack.t1190
- cve.2020-8193
- cve.2020-8195
- detection.emerging-threats
logsource:
category: webserver
detection:
selection1:
cs-uri-query|contains: /rapi/filedownload?filter=path:%2F
selection2:
cs-uri-query|contains|all:
- /pcidss/report
- type=all_signatures
- sig_name=_default_signature_
condition: 1 of selection*
falsepositives:
- Unknown
level: critical
license: DRL-1.1
related:
- id: 0d0d9a8a-a49e-4e27-b061-7ce4b936cfb7
type: derived