name: Github Commit In Develop
id: f3030cb6-0b02-11ec-8f22-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 commits pushed directly to the 'develop' or 'main' branches in a GitHub repository. It leverages GitHub logs, focusing on commit metadata such as author details, commit messages, and timestamps. This activity is significant as direct commits to these branches can bypass the review process, potentially introducing unvetted changes. If confirmed malicious, this could lead to unauthorized code modifications, introducing vulnerabilities or backdoors into the codebase, and compromising the integrity of the development lifecycle.
data_source:
    - GitHub Webhooks
search: '`github` branches{}.name = main OR branches{}.name = develop |  stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime  by commit.author.html_url commit.commit.author.email commit.author.login commit.commit.message repository.pushed_at commit.commit.committer.date | eval phase="code" | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` | `github_commit_in_develop_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 develop 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 develop 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_develop.json
            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: []