CISA Emergency Directive: Check Point VPN Exploitation — Detection and Hardening Guide

---
title: Potential Check Point VPN Exploitation Attempt
id: 8a2b3c4d-5e6f-4a7b-8c9d-0e1f2a3b4c5d
status: experimental
description: Detects potential exploitation attempts against Check Point VPN gateways by identifying anomalous web requests or high-frequency access to VPN endpoints.
references:
  - Internal Threat Research
author: Security Arsenal
date: 2026/05/12
tags:
  - attack.initial_access
  - attack.t1190
logsource:
  category: webserver
  product: check_point
detection:
  selection:\    DeviceVendor|contains: 'Check Point'
    cs-method|contains:
      - 'POST'
      - 'GET'
    cs-uri-query|contains:
      - '..'
      - '%2e%2e'
      - '/etc/passwd'  # Indicative of directory traversal attempts often seen in exploitation
  condition: selection
falsepositives:
  - Vulnerability scanners
  - Misconfigured monitoring tools
level: high
---
title: Suspicious Process Execution on Check Point Gateway
id: 9b3c4d5e-6f7a-5b8c-9d0e-1f2a3b4c5d6e
status: experimental
description: Detects suspicious shell activity spawned by the web server process on the VPN gateway, a common post-exploitation technique for persistence.
references:
  - Internal Threat Research
author: Security Arsenal
date: 2026/05/12
tags:
  - attack.execution
  - attack.t1059.004
logsource:
  category: process_creation
  product: linux
detection:
  selection:\    ParentImage|contains: '/www/'
    Image|endswith:
      - '/bash'
      - '/sh'
      - '/python'
    CommandLine|contains:
      - 'curl'
      - 'wget'
      - 'chmod'
  condition: selection
falsepositives:
  - Administrative maintenance
  - Legitimate web scripts
level: critical
---
title: Qilin Ransomware Affiliate Activity - Anomalous Network Connections
id: 0c4d5e6f-7a8b-6c9d-0e1f-2a3b4c5d6e7f
status: experimental
description: Detects outbound network connections from the VPN gateway infrastructure to non-standard ports, indicative of C2 beaconing or exfiltration.
references:
  - Internal Threat Research
author: Security Arsenal
date: 2026/05/12
tags:
  - attack.command_and_control
  - attack.t1071
logsource:
  category: network_connection
  product: linux
detection:
  selection:\    Image|endswith: '/httpd' # Check Point web process
    DestinationPort|notin:
      - 80
      - 443
      - 264
      - 259
  condition: selection
falsepositives:
  - Legitimate API calls to internal services
level: medium

// Hunt for Check Point VPN Exploitation Indicators
CommonSecurityLog
| where DeviceVendor == "Check Point"
| where DeviceProduct contains "VPN" or DeviceProduct contains "Security Gateway"
// Look for exploitation signatures or excessive failures followed by success
| project TimeGenerated, DeviceName, SourceIP, DestinationIP, DestinationPort, Activity, RequestURL, Reason
| where isnotempty(RequestURL)
// Filter for suspicious patterns often used in path traversal or injection
| where RequestURL contains ".." or RequestURL contains "%" or Activity has "Error"
| summarize count() by bin(TimeGenerated, 5m), SourceIP, DeviceName, Activity
| where count_ > 10
| order by TimeGenerated desc

-- Hunt for suspicious process activity on Check Point Gateway
SELECT Pid, Name, CommandLine, Exe, Username, StartTime
FROM pslist()
WHERE Name IN ('bash', 'sh', 'python', 'perl', 'nc', 'curl', 'wget')
  AND (CommandLine =~ 'http' OR CommandLine =~ 'bind' OR CommandLine =~ 'reverse')

-- Hunt for recent modified files in web directories
SELECT FullPath, Size, Mtime, Mode
FROM glob(globs='/*/*www/*')
WHERE Mtime > now() - 24h

#!/bin/bash
# Check Point VPN Remediation Audit Script
# Run as root user

echo "[+] Auditing Check Point Gateway Security Status..."

# Check for installed Jumbo Hotfixes
echo "[+] Checking installed Hotfixes..."
${CPDIR}/bin/cpprod_util FwIsRaf > /dev/null
if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
  echo "Gateway is Security Gateway. Checking Hotfixes..."
  ${CPDIR}/bin/cpprod_util GetRefList | grep -i "Take"
else
  echo "Could not determine hotfix level. Please check SmartConsole."
fi

# Verify Mobile Access/VPN Blade Status
echo "[+] Verifying VPN and Mobile Access Status..."
vpn adt get > /dev/null
if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
  echo "VPN blades are active. Ensure they are updated to the latest build."
fi

# Temporary Mitigation: Block external access to VPN management from unknown IPs
# Note: Replace '192.168.1.0/24' with your allowed management subnets
echo "[+] Applying interim firewall rules to restrict management access..."
# This is a placeholder for the actual 'fw stat' or 'vpn tu' commands specific to your policy
# As a senior consultant, verify the specific policy in SmartDashboard before enforcing.

echo "[!] CRITICAL: Apply the latest Check Point Hotfix mentioned in the vendor security advisory immediately."
echo "[!] If patching is delayed, enforce strict Geo-Blocking on VPN interfaces."