Security Detections MCP

security-detections-mcp

Skill by ara.so — Security Skills collection

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server providing LLM access to 8,200+ security detection rules across Sigma, Splunk ESCU, Elastic, KQL, Sublime, and CrowdStrike CQL formats, with MITRE ATT&CK mapping, coverage analysis, and autonomous detection engineering.

What It Does

• Unified detection search across 6 major security platforms (Sigma, Splunk, Elastic, KQL, Sublime, CrowdStrike)
• MITRE ATT&CK integration with 172 threat actors, 784 software, 4,362 actor-technique relationships
• Coverage analysis identifying gaps in detection by tactic/technique/actor
• ATT&CK Navigator layers exportable as JSON for visualization
• Autonomous detection pipeline from CTI ingestion to draft PR generation
• 81 MCP tools for detection engineering (local) or ~25 tools (hosted)
• 11 expert prompts for ransomware assessment, APT emulation, purple teaming

Installation

Local Installation (Full Power)

Prerequisites:

• Node.js 18+
• Detection rule repositories cloned locally

Quick start with npx:

npx -y security-detections-mcp

Configure in Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "security-detections": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "security-detections-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "SIGMA_PATHS": "/path/to/sigma/rules,/path/to/sigma/rules-threat-hunting",
        "SPLUNK_PATHS": "/path/to/security_content/detections",
        "STORY_PATHS": "/path/to/security_content/stories",
        "ELASTIC_PATHS": "/path/to/detection-rules/rules",
        "KQL_PATHS": "/path/to/kql-rules",
        "SUBLIME_PATHS": "/path/to/sublime-rules/detection-rules",
        "CQL_HUB_PATHS": "/path/to/cql-hub/queries",
        "ATTACK_STIX_PATH": "/path/to/enterprise-attack.json"
      }
    }
  }
}

Configure in Cursor (.cursor/settings.json):

{
  "mcp": {
    "servers": {
      "security-detections": {
        "command": "npx",
        "args": ["-y", "security-detections-mcp"],
        "env": {
          "SIGMA_PATHS": "/Users/you/detections/sigma/rules",
          "SPLUNK_PATHS": "/Users/you/detections/security_content/detections"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Configure in VS Code (settings.json):

{
  "mcp.servers": {
    "security-detections": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "security-detections-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "SIGMA_PATHS": "/home/you/detections/sigma/rules"
      }
    }
  }
}

Hosted Installation (Zero Setup)

Prerequisites:

• API token from detect.michaelhaag.org/account/tokens
• Free tier: 200 calls/day, read-only tools

Claude Desktop (requires mcp-remote):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "security-detections": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://detect.michaelhaag.org/api/mcp/mcp",
        "--header",
        "Authorization: Bearer ${SDMCP_TOKEN}"
      ]
    }
  }
}

VS Code / Cursor:

{
  "mcp.servers": {
    "security-detections": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://detect.michaelhaag.org/api/mcp/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer ${SDMCP_TOKEN}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Getting Detection Content

Download all detection sources with sparse checkout:

mkdir -p ~/detections && cd ~/detections

# Sigma rules
git clone --depth 1 --filter=blob:none --sparse https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma.git
cd sigma && git sparse-checkout set rules rules-threat-hunting && cd ..

# Splunk ESCU
git clone --depth 1 --filter=blob:none --sparse https://github.com/splunk/security_content.git
cd security_content && git sparse-checkout set detections stories && cd ..

# Elastic
git clone --depth 1 --filter=blob:none --sparse https://github.com/elastic/detection-rules.git
cd detection-rules && git sparse-checkout set rules && cd ..

# KQL
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/Bert-JanP/Hunting-Queries-Detection-Rules.git kql-bertjanp
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/jkerai1/KQL-Queries.git kql-jkerai1

# Sublime
git clone --depth 1 --filter=blob:none --sparse https://github.com/sublime-security/sublime-rules.git
cd sublime-rules && git sparse-checkout set detection-rules && cd ..

# CrowdStrike CQL
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ByteRay-Labs/Query-Hub.git cql-hub

# MITRE ATT&CK STIX
curl -o enterprise-attack.json https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mitre/cti/master/enterprise-attack/enterprise-attack.json

Then update environment variables to point to these paths.

Core MCP Tools

Detection Search & Retrieval

// Full-text search across all detections
{
  "name": "search",
  "arguments": {
    "query": "process injection",
    "limit": 10
  }
}

// Get specific detection by ID
{
  "name": "get_by_id",
  "arguments": {
    "id": "sigma_abc123"
  }
}

// List all detections with pagination
{
  "name": "list_all",
  "arguments": {
    "limit": 50,
    "offset": 0
  }
}

// Filter by source type
{
  "name": "list_by_source",
  "arguments": {
    "source_type": "sigma"  // sigma, splunk_escu, elastic, kql, sublime, crowdstrike_cql
  }
}

// Get index statistics
{
  "name": "get_stats",
  "arguments": {}
}

MITRE ATT&CK Filtering

// Find detections for specific technique
{
  "name": "list_by_mitre",
  "arguments": {
    "technique_id": "T1059.001"  // PowerShell
  }
}

// Filter by tactic
{
  "name": "list_by_mitre_tactic",
  "arguments": {
    "tactic": "execution"  // execution, persistence, privilege-escalation, etc.
  }
}

// Search by CVE
{
  "name": "list_by_cve",
  "arguments": {
    "cve_id": "CVE-2021-34527"  // PrintNightmare
  }
}

// Find by process name
{
  "name": "list_by_process_name",
  "arguments": {
    "process_name": "powershell.exe"
  }
}

// Filter by severity
{
  "name": "list_by_severity",
  "arguments": {
    "level": "critical"  // critical, high, medium, low
  }
}

// Filter by data source
{
  "name": "list_by_data_source",
  "arguments": {
    "data_source": "process_creation"
  }
}

Coverage Analysis

// Analyze overall coverage (~2KB response)
{
  "name": "analyze_coverage",
  "arguments": {
    "source_type": "sigma"  // optional: analyze specific source
  }
}

// Identify gaps for threat profile (~500B response)
{
  "name": "identify_gaps",
  "arguments": {
    "threat_profile": "ransomware"  // ransomware, apt, persistence, lateral_movement
  }
}

// Get detection suggestions for technique (~2KB)
{
  "name": "suggest_detections",
  "arguments": {
    "technique_id": "T1003.001"  // LSASS Memory
  }
}

// Coverage summary by tactic (~200B)
{
  "name": "get_coverage_summary",
  "arguments": {
    "source_type": "splunk_escu"
  }
}

// Analyze coverage against threat actor
{
  "name": "analyze_actor_coverage",
  "arguments": {
    "actor": "APT29"
  }
}

// Compare coverage across multiple actors
{
  "name": "compare_actor_coverage",
  "arguments": {
    "actors": ["APT29", "APT28", "Lazarus Group"]
  }
}

// Behavioral procedure breakdown for technique
{
  "name": "analyze_procedure_coverage",
  "arguments": {
    "technique_id": "T1055"
  }
}

ATT&CK Navigator Layer Generation

// Generate Navigator layer JSON
{
  "name": "generate_navigator_layer",
  "arguments": {
    "name": "Current Coverage",
    "description": "Detection coverage as of 2024-01",
    "filter": {
      "source": "sigma",
      "tactic": "defense-evasion",
      "min_severity": "medium"
    },
    "color_by": "coverage"  // coverage, severity, source
  }
}

// Export to file (local only)
{
  "name": "export_navigator_layer",
  "arguments": {
    "output_path": "./coverage-layer.json",
    "filter": {
      "actor": "APT29"
    }
  }
}

Common Patterns

Ransomware Readiness Assessment

Use the built-in prompt: