name: Github Commit Changes In Master
id: c9d2bfe2-019f-11ec-a8eb-acde48001122
version: 5
creation_date: '2021-08-20'
modification_date: '2026-05-13'
author: Teoderick Contreras, Splunk
status: removed
type: Anomaly
description: The following analytic detects direct commits or pushes to the master or main branch in a GitHub repository. It leverages GitHub logs to identify events where changes are made directly to these critical branches. This activity is significant because direct modifications to the master or main branch bypass the standard review process, potentially introducing unreviewed and harmful changes. If confirmed malicious, this could lead to unauthorized code execution, security vulnerabilities, or compromised project integrity.
data_source:
    - GitHub Webhooks
search: '`github` branches{}.name = main OR branches{}.name = master |  stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime by commit.commit.author.email commit.author.login commit.commit.message repository.pushed_at commit.commit.committer.date repository.full_name | rename commit.author.login as user, repository.full_name as repository | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` | `github_commit_changes_in_master_filter`'
how_to_implement: To successfully implement this search, you need to be ingesting logs related to github logs having the fork, commit, push metadata that can be use to monitor the changes in a github project.
known_false_positives: Admin can do changes directly to master branch
references:
    - https://www.splunk.com/en_us/blog/tips-and-tricks/getting-github-data-with-webhooks.html
drilldown_searches:
    - name: View the detection results for - "$commit.commit.author.email$"
      search: '%original_detection_search% | search  commit.commit.author.email = "$commit.commit.author.email$"'
      earliest_offset: $info_min_time$
      latest_offset: $info_max_time$
    - name: View risk events for the last 7 days for - "$commit.commit.author.email$"
      search: '| from datamodel Risk.All_Risk | search normalized_risk_object IN ("$commit.commit.author.email$") 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: $info_max_time$
rba:
    message: Suspicious commit by $commit.commit.author.email$ to main branch
    risk_objects:
        - field: commit.commit.author.email
          type: user
          score: 9
    threat_objects: []
tags:
    analytic_story:
        - Dev Sec Ops
    asset_type: GitHub
    mitre_attack_id:
        - T1199
    product:
        - Splunk Enterprise
        - Splunk Enterprise Security
        - Splunk Cloud
    security_domain: endpoint
tests:
    - name: True Positive Test
      attack_data:
          - data: https://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/attack_techniques/T1199/github_push_master/github_push_master.log
            source: github
            sourcetype: aws:firehose:json
deprecation_info:
    reason: Detection deprecated as it no longer effectively identifies the intended malicious activity
    removed_in_version: 5.4.0
    replacement_content: []