Name:Windows Suspicious React or Next.js Child Process id:baa80bc8-7c9c-4395-b458-b69feb92830a version:2 date:2026-02-26 author:Nasreddine Bencherchali, Splunk status:production type:TTP Description:This analytic detects Windows processes such as cmd.exe, PowerShell, and common Windows LOLBINs being spawned by React or Next.js application servers.
In the context of CVE-2025-55182 / React2Shell / CVE-2025-66478 for Next.js, successful exploitation can lead to arbitrary JavaScript execution on the server, which in turn is used to invoke Node's child_process APIs (for example child_process.execSync) to run OS-level commands.
This detection focuses on suspicious child processes where a Next/React server process spawns an uncommon process.
Such activity might be a strong indicator of exploitation of the aforementioned vulnerability.
Data_source:
-Sysmon EventID 1
-Windows Event Log Security 4688
-CrowdStrike ProcessRollup2
search:| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime from datamodel=Endpoint.Processes where Processes.parent_process_name = "node.exe" Processes.parent_process IN ( "*--experimental-https*", "*--experimental-next-config-strip-types*", "*\\node_modules\\next*", "*next dev*", "*next start*", "*next\" start*", "*node_modules\\.bin\\\\..\\next*", "*react-scripts start*", "*start-server.js*", ) AND ( Processes.process_name IN ( "bash.exe", "bitsadmin.exe", "calc.exe", "CalculatorApp.exe", "certutil.exe", "cscript.exe", "curl.exe", "ftp.exe", "ipconfig.exe", "mshta.exe", "netstat.exe", "OpenConsole.exe", "powershell.exe", "pwsh.exe", "regsvr32.exe", "rundll32.exe", "sh.exe", "tftp.exe", "wget.exe", "win32calc.exe", "wmic.exe", "wscript.exe", "wsl.exe", "wt.exe" ) OR ( Processes.process_name = "cmd.exe" AND NOT Processes.process = "*/d /s /c *" ) OR ( Processes.process_name = "cmd.exe" Processes.process = "*/d /s /c *" AND NOT ( Processes.process = "*git config --local --get remote.origin.url*" OR ( Processes.process = "*netstat -ano | findstr /C:*" Processes.process = "* | findstr LISTENING*" ) OR ( Processes.parent_process = "*--experimental-https*" Processes.process = "*\\mkcert\\*" Processes.process IN ("* -CAROOT*", "* -install *") ) ) ) ) by Processes.action Processes.dest Processes.original_file_name Processes.parent_process Processes.parent_process_exec Processes.parent_process_guid Processes.parent_process_id Processes.parent_process_name Processes.parent_process_path Processes.process Processes.process_exec Processes.process_guid Processes.process_hash Processes.process_id Processes.process_integrity_level Processes.process_name Processes.process_path Processes.user Processes.user_id Processes.vendor_product
how_to_implement:The detection is based on data that originates from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents.
These agents are designed to provide security-related telemetry from the endpoints where the agent is installed.
To implement this search, you must ingest logs that contain the process GUID, process name, and parent process.
Additionally, you must ingest complete command-line executions.
These logs must be processed using the appropriate Splunk Technology Add-ons that are specific to the EDR product. The logs must also be mapped to the `Processes` node of the `Endpoint` data model.
Use the Splunk Common Information Model (CIM) to normalize the field names and speed up the data modeling process.
known_false_positives:Rare false positives might show up from child processes such as cmd or powershell. Apply additional filters as needed.
References: -https://react.dev/blog/2025/12/03/critical-security-vulnerability-in-react-server-components -https://nextjs.org/blog/CVE-2025-66478 -https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-55182 -https://gist.github.com/maple3142/48bc9393f45e068cf8c90ab865c0f5f3 -https://www.wiz.io/blog/critical-vulnerability-in-react-cve-2025-55182 drilldown_searches: name:'View the detection results for - "$dest$"' search:'%original_detection_search% | search dest = "$dest$"' earliest_offset:'$info_min_time$' latest_offset:'$info_max_time$' name:'View risk events for the last 7 days for - "$dest$"' search:'| from datamodel Risk.All_Risk | search normalized_risk_object IN ("$dest$") starthoursago=168 | 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:'$info_min_time$' latest_offset:'$info_max_time$' tags: analytic_story: - 'React2Shell' asset_type:Endpoint mitre_attack_id: - 'T1190' - 'T1059.003' - 'T1059.001' product: - 'Splunk Enterprise' - 'Splunk Enterprise Security' - 'Splunk Cloud' security_domain:endpoint
