Cisco Secure Firewall - Blacklisted SSL Certificate Fingerprint
The following analytic detects the use of known suspicious SSL certificates in any observed event where the SSL_CertFingerprint field is present. It leverages Cisco Secure Firewall logs and compares the SSL…
Description
The following analytic detects the use of known suspicious SSL certificates in any observed event where the SSL_CertFingerprint field is present. It leverages Cisco Secure Firewall logs and compares the SSL certificate SHA1 fingerprint against a blacklist of certificates associated with malware distribution, command and control (C2) infrastructure, or phishing campaigns. This activity is significant as adversaries often reuse or self-sign certificates across malicious infrastructure, allowing defenders to track and detect encrypted sessions even when domains or IPs change. If confirmed malicious, this may indicate beaconing, malware download, or data exfiltration over TLS/SSL.
Detection logic
Detection requirements
- Platform
- ESXiLinuxmacOSNetwork DevicesPREWindows
The rule states no platform. This is derived from the 4 ATT&CK techniques it maps to.
- Log source category
- cisco_secure_firewall_threat_defense_connection_event
Known benign triggers
- Certain SSL certificates may be flagged in threat intelligence feeds due to historical misuse, yet still be used by legitimate services, particularly in content delivery or shared hosting environments. Internal or self-signed certificates used in testing or development environments may inadvertently match known blacklisted fingerprints. It is recommended to validate the connection context (destination IP, domain, ClientApplication) and correlate with other indicators before taking action.
MITRE ATT&CK mappings
2 exclusive techniques.This is coverage no other published rule has; it is not this rule's total technique count.
References
| Reference | Cited by |
|---|---|
| www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/security/firepower/741/api/FQE/secure_firewall_estreamer_fqe_guide_740.pdf | 18 |
From the source
- At source
- Open at source
- Upstream identifier
- c43f7b49-2dab-4e76-892e-7f971c2f20f1
- Tagged by the source as
- Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense AnalyticsNetworknetworkSplunk CloudSplunk EnterpriseSplunk Enterprise Securitynetwork
Licence
- Published under
- Apache License 2.0Read the licence
- Attribution
- Required
- Obtained under
- Apache-2.0Read the origin licence
Authorship
- Written by
- Published
- Oct 6, 2026
- Version
- 2