SAP NetWeaver Visual Composer Exploitation Attempt

Name:SAP NetWeaver Visual Composer Exploitation Attempt
id:a583b9f1-9c3a-4402-9441-b981654dea6c
version:4
date:2026-03-27
author:Michael Haag, Splunk
status:production
type:Hunting
Description:Detects potential exploitation attempts targeting CVE-2025-31324, a critical unauthenticated file upload vulnerability in SAP NetWeaver Visual Composer. This flaw allows remote attackers to send specially crafted POST requests to the /developmentserver/metadatauploader endpoint, enabling arbitrary file uploads—commonly webshells—resulting in full system compromise. The detection looks for HTTP HEAD or POST requests with a 200 OK status to sensitive Visual Composer endpoints, which may indicate reconnaissance or active exploitation. Successful exploitation can lead to attackers gaining privileged access, deploying malware, and impacting business-critical SAP resources. Immediate patching and investigation of suspicious activity are strongly recommended, as this vulnerability is being actively exploited in the wild.
Data_source:

• -Suricata

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

FROM datamodel=Web.Web WHERE

Web.url IN (
"*/ctc/CTCWebService/CTCWebServiceBean",
"*/CTCWebService/CTCWebServiceBean",
"*/VisualComposer/services/DesignTimeService"
)
Web.http_method IN ("HEAD", "POST")
Web.status=200

BY Web.src Web.dest Web.http_method
Web.url Web.http_user_agent Web.url_length

| `drop_dm_object_name("Web")`

| eval action=case(
http_method="HEAD", "Recon/Probe",
http_method="POST", "Possible Exploitation"
)

| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`

| table firstTime lastTime src dest http_method
action url user_agent url_length

| `sap_netweaver_visual_composer_exploitation_attempt_filter`

how_to_implement:Ensure that the Web data model is accelerated and populated with web server or web proxy logs capturing HTTP request and response data. This search relies on HTTP method, status code, and URL path fields to identify suspicious access patterns against SAP NetWeaver endpoints.
known_false_positives:Some legitimate administrative activity may access SAP NetWeaver services. However, HEAD or POST requests directly resulting in a 200 OK to Visual Composer endpoints are uncommon and should be investigated carefully.
References:
  -https://onapsis.com/blog/active-exploitation-of-sap-vulnerability-cve-2025-31324/
  -https://reliaquest.com/blog/threat-spotlight-reliaquest-uncovers-vulnerability-behind-sap-netweaver-compromise/
  -https://www.rapid7.com/blog/post/2025/04/28/etr-active-exploitation-of-sap-netweaver-visual-composer-cve-2025-31324/
drilldown_searches:
  :
tags:
  analytic_story:
    - 'SAP NetWeaver Exploitation'
  asset_type:Web Server
  mitre_attack_id:
    - 'T1190'
  product:
    - 'Splunk Enterprise'
    - 'Splunk Enterprise Security'
    - 'Splunk Cloud'
  security_domain:network
  cve:
    - 'CVE-2025-31324'

tests:
 name:'True Positive Test'
 attack_data:
  data: https://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/attack_techniques/T1190/sap/suricata_sapnetweaver.log
  sourcetype: suricata
  source: not_applicable
manual_test:None