net-capture-zeek-zeekanalysis

-| | conn.log | TCP/UDP/ICMP connection summaries with duration, bytes, state | | dns.log | DNS queries and responses with query type, answers, TTL | | http.log | HTTP requests/responses with URIs, user agents, MIME types | | ssl.log | TLS handshake details including certificate chain, JA3/JA3S | | files.log | File transfers with MIME types, hashes (MD5, SHA1, SHA256) | | notice.log | Alerts generated by Zeek detection scripts | | weird.log | Protocol anomalies and unexpected behaviors | | x509.log | Certificate details from TLS connections | | smtp.log | Email metadata including sender, recipient, subject | | ssh.log | SSH connection details and authentication results | | pe.log | Portable Executable file metadata | | dpd.log | Dynamic Protocol Detection failures |

Workflow

Step 1: Install and Configure Zeek

# Install Zeek on Ubuntu
sudo apt-get install -y zeek

# Or install from Zeek repository
echo 'deb http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/security:/zeek/xUbuntu_22.04/ /' | \
    sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/zeek.list
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y zeek-lts

# Verify installation
zeek --version

Configure the node layout in /opt/zeek/etc/node.cfg:

[manager]
type=manager
host=localhost

[proxy-1]
type=proxy
host=localhost

[worker-1]
type=worker
host=localhost
interface=eth0
lb_method=pf_ring
lb_procs=4

[worker-2]
type=worker
host=localhost
interface=eth1
lb_method=pf_ring
lb_procs=4

Configure network definitions in /opt/zeek/etc/networks.cfg:

# Internal network ranges
10.0.0.0/8         Private RFC1918
172.16.0.0/12      Private RFC1918
192.168.0.0/16     Private RFC1918

Step 2: Configure Logging and Output

Edit /opt/zeek/share/zeek/site/local.zeek:

# Load standard detection scripts
@load base/protocols/conn
@load base/protocols/dns
@load base/protocols/http
@load base/protocols/ssl
@load base/protocols/ssh
@load base/protocols/smtp
@load base/protocols/ftp

# Load file analysis
@load base/files/hash-all-files
@load base/files/extract-all-files

# Load detection frameworks
@load base/frameworks/notice
@load base/frameworks/intel
@load base/frameworks/files
@load base/frameworks/software

# Load additional protocol analyzers
@load policy/protocols/ssl/validate-certs
@load policy/protocols/ssl/log-hostcerts-only
@load policy/protocols/ssh/detect-bruteforcing
@load policy/protocols/dns/detect-external-names
@load policy/protocols/http/detect-sqli

# Enable JA3 fingerprinting
@load policy/protocols/ssl/ja3

# Enable JSON output for SIEM ingestion
@load policy/tuning/json-logs

redef LogAscii::use_json = T;

# Configure file extraction directory
redef FileExtract::prefix = "/opt/zeek/extracted/";

# Set notice email
redef Notice::mail_dest = "soc@example.com";

Step 3: Write Custom Detection Scripts

Create detection scripts for common threats:

Detect DNS Tunneling (/opt/zeek/share/zeek/site/detect-dns-tunnel.zeek):

@load base/protocols/dns

module DNSTunnel;

export {
    redef enum Notice::Type += {
        DNS_Tunnel_Suspected
    };

    # Threshold for suspicious DNS query length
    const query_len_threshold = 50 &redef;

    # Track query counts per host per domain
    global dns_query_counts: table[addr, string] of count &default=0 &create_expire=5min;

    # High query volume threshold
    const query_volume_threshold = 100 &redef;
}

event dns_request(c: connection, msg: dns_msg, query: string, qtype: count, qclass: count)
{
    if ( |query| > query_len_threshold )
    {
        local parts = split_string(query, /\./);
        if ( |parts| > 3 )
        {
            local base_domain = cat(parts[|parts|-2], ".", parts[|parts|-1]);
            dns_query_counts[c$id$orig_h, base_domain] += 1;

            if ( dns_query_counts[c$id$orig_h, base_domain] > query_volume_threshold )
            {
                NOTICE([$note=DNS_Tunnel_Suspected,
                        $msg=fmt("Possible DNS tunneling: %s queries to %s with long query names",
                                 c$id$orig_h, base_domain),
                        $conn=c,
                        $identifier=cat(c$id$orig_h, base_domain),
                        $suppress_for=30min]);
            }
        }
    }
}

Detect Beaconing Behavior (/opt/zeek/share/zeek/site/detect-beaconing.zeek):

@load base/protocols/conn

module Beaconing;

export {
    redef enum Notice::Type += {
        C2_Beacon_Detected
    };

    # Track connection intervals
    global conn_intervals: table[addr, addr, port] of vector of time &create_expire=1hr;

    const min_connections = 20 &redef;
    const jitter_threshold = 0.15 &redef;
}

event connection_state_remove(c: connection)
{
    if ( c$id$resp_p == 80/tcp || c$id$resp_p == 443/tcp )
    {
        local key = [c$id$orig_h, c$id$resp_h, c$id$resp_p];

        if ( key !in conn_intervals )
            conn_intervals[key] = vector();

        conn_intervals[key] += network_time();

        if ( |conn_intervals[key]| >= min_connections )
        {
            local intervals: vector of interval = vector();
            local i = 1;
            while ( i < |conn_intervals[key]| )
            {
                intervals += conn_intervals[key][i] - conn_intervals[key][i-1];
                i += 1;
            }

            # Calculate mean and standard deviation
            local sum_val = 0.0;
            for ( idx in intervals )
                sum_val += interval_to_double(intervals[idx]);

            local mean_val = sum_val / |intervals|;

            local variance = 0.0;
            for ( idx in intervals )
            {
                local diff = interval_to_double(intervals[idx]) - mean_val;
                variance += diff * diff;
            }
            variance = variance / |intervals|;
            local stddev = sqrt(variance);

            if ( mean_val > 0 && (stddev / mean_val) < jitter_threshold )
            {
                NOTICE([$note=C2_Beacon_Detected,
                        $msg=fmt("Possible C2 beaconing: %s -> %s:%s (interval=%.1fs, jitter=%.2f)",
                                 c$id$orig_h, c$id$resp_h, c$id$resp_p,
                                 mean_val, stddev/mean_val),
                        $conn=c,
                        $identifier=cat(c$id$orig_h, c$id$resp_h),
                        $suppress_for=1hr]);
            }
        }
    }
}

Step 4: Configure Intel Framework

Load threat intelligence feeds into Zeek:

# In local.zeek
@load frameworks/intel/seen
@load frameworks/intel/do_notice

redef Intel::read_files += {
    "/opt/zeek/intel/malicious-ips.intel",
    "/opt/zeek/intel/malicious-domains.intel",
    "/opt/zeek/intel/malicious-hashes.intel",
};

Intel file format (/opt/zeek/intel/malicious-ips.intel):

#fields	indicator	indicator_type	meta.source	meta.desc	meta.do_notice
198.51.100.50	Intel::ADDR	abuse.ch	Known C2 server	T
203.0.113.100	Intel::ADDR	threatfeed	Ransomware infrastructure	T

Step 5: Deploy and Operate

# Deploy Zeek cluster
sudo /opt/zeek/bin/zeekctl deploy

# Check cluster status
sudo /opt/zeek/bin/zeekctl status

# Process offline PCAP
zeek -r capture.pcap local.zeek

# View logs
cat /opt/zeek/logs/current/conn.log | zeek-cut id.orig_h id.resp_h id.resp_p proto service duration orig_bytes resp_bytes

# Search for specific connections
cat /opt/zeek/logs/current/dns.log | zeek-cut query answers | grep -i "suspicious"

# Rotate logs
sudo /opt/zeek/bin/zeekctl cron

Step 6: SIEM Integration

Filebeat configuration for ELK Stack:

filebeat.inputs:
  - type: log
    enabled: true
    paths:
      - /opt/zeek/logs/current/*.log
    json.keys_under_root: true
    json.add_error_key: true
    fields:
      source: zeek
    fields_under_root: true

output.elasticsearch:
  hosts: ["https://elasticsearch:9200"]
  index: "zeek-%{+yyyy.MM.dd}"

setup.template.name: "zeek"
setup.template.pattern: "zeek-*"

Analysis Techniques

Connection Analysis

# Find top talkers by bytes
cat conn.log | zeek-cut id.orig_h orig_bytes | sort -t$'\t' -k2 -rn | head -20

# Find long-duration connections (potential C2)
cat conn.log | zeek-cut id.orig_h id.resp_h id.resp_p duration | awk '$4 > 3600' | sort -t$'\t' -k4 -rn

# Find connections with unusual ports
cat conn.log | zeek-cut id.resp_p proto | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn | head -30

TLS Analysis

# Find self-signed certificates
cat ssl.log | zeek-cut server_name validation_status | grep "self signed"

# Extract JA3 fingerprints for known malware
cat ssl.log | zeek-cut ja3 server_name | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn

# Find expired certificates
cat ssl.log | zeek-cut server_name not_valid_after | awk -F'\t' '$2 < systime()'

Best Practices

• TAP Over SPAN - Use network TAPs instead of SPAN ports to avoid packet loss under load
• Worker Scaling - Assign 1 Zeek worker per 1 Gbps of monitored traffic
• AF_PACKET Clusters - Use AF_PACKET with load balancing for multi-core processing
• Log Rotation - Configure automatic log rotation and archival (default: hourly)
• Intel Updates - Automate threat intelligence feed updates at least daily
• Packet Loss Monitoring - Monitor capture_loss.log for dropped packets
• Custom Scripts - Develop organization-specific detections based on threat landscape

References

• Zeek Documentation
• Zeek Scripting Reference
• Zeek Intel Framework
• CISA Zeek Resources
• Zeek GitHub Repository