Splunk Search

DGA Regex in Splunk

masfar
Engager

I am trying to search through logs for unusual domains generated by DGAs. I want to use regex to search for domain names with 7-12 characters ending with TLD. The characters are alphanumeric.
For example, abc1djdfkf.xyz

I have used the following regex patterns, but did not see the desired results.

rex field=URL "(?\w{7,12}.(XYZ))$"

Tags (2)
0 Karma

martin_mueller
SplunkTrust
SplunkTrust

So... you're looking for seven to twelve alphanumeric characters where at least one is a digit and at least one is a letter?
I'll be lazy and cheat:

| rex field=URL "(?<url_dga>(?=\w*\d)(?=\w*[a-zA-Z])\w{7,12}\.xyz)"
| regex URL="(?=\w*\d)(?=\w*[a-zA-Z])\w{7,12}\.xyz"

Note 1: I've added regex, in case you're trying to filter and not extract a field.
Note 2: djdhdjahdja.xyz is technically alphanumeric 😛
Note 3: To add more laziness, take a look at https://splunkbase.splunk.com/app/3435 - one of its examples targets algorithmically generated domains.

0 Karma

martin_mueller
SplunkTrust
SplunkTrust

I've added back the rex command to extract fields rather than searching by regex.

0 Karma

martin_mueller
SplunkTrust
SplunkTrust

Well, it does match the example you gave that should match, and doesn't match the example you gave that shouldn't match.

Are you trying to extract a new field |rex or filter results |regex?

0 Karma

masfar
Engager

Martin- I am looking to extract the field.

0 Karma

masfar
Engager

Martin- Thanks, but the query you mentioned is not providing the desired results. For example, the results include abc.zybdkdke12.xyz , www.dahdha2ddalk.xyz, when I am only interested in the main domain itself (zybdkdke12.xyz and dahdha2ddalk.xyz).

0 Karma

somesoni2
Revered Legend

Try this

...| rex field=URL "(?<domain>\w{7,12}\.xyz)"

masfar
Engager

somesoni2- The DGA I am observing generates domains in alphanumeric characters, so in my regex I want to be able to search for domains that contain ONLY alphanumeric values. For example, I want to get a hit on ababdbdb233.xyz and not on djdhdjahdja.xyz.

0 Karma
Get Updates on the Splunk Community!

AI for AppInspect

We’re excited to announce two new updates to AppInspect designed to save you time and make the app approval ...

App Platform's 2025 Year in Review: A Year of Innovation, Growth, and Community

As we step into 2026, it’s the perfect moment to reflect on what an extraordinary year 2025 was for the Splunk ...

Operationalizing Entity Risk Score with Enterprise Security 8.3+

Overview Enterprise Security 8.3 introduces a powerful new feature called “Entity Risk Scoring” (ERS) for ...