• Sublime Core Feed
High Severity

Attachment: QR code with recipient targeting and special characters

Description

Detects messages with QR code in attachments containing special characters in the path that include the recipient's email address in either the URL path or fragment, potentially encoded in base64. The URLs have a simple path structure and may end with suspicious patterns.

References

No references.

Sublime Security
Created Jan 21st, 2026 • Last updated Feb 9th, 2026
Source
type.inbound
and length(recipients.to) == 1
and recipients.to[0].email.domain.valid
and any(attachments,
        (
          // Office documents
          (
            .file_extension in $file_extensions_macros
            // Email Attachments
            or .file_extension == "eml"
          )
          and any(file.explode(.),
                  .scan.qr.type == "url"
                  // QR code URL contains recipient's email (targeting indicator)
                  and any(recipients.to,
                          .email.domain.valid
                          and (
                            // Plaintext email address in URL
                            strings.icontains(..scan.qr.url.url, .email.email)
                            // OR base64 encoded email address
                            or any(strings.scan_base64(..scan.qr.url.url,
                                                       format="url",
                                                       ignore_padding=true
                                   ),
                                   strings.icontains(., ..email.email)
                            )
                          )
                  )
                  // a single path
                  and strings.count(.scan.qr.url.path, '/') == 2
                  and (
                    (
                      (
                        strings.contains(.scan.qr.url.path, '/$')
                        or strings.contains(.scan.qr.url.path, '/*')
                        or strings.contains(.scan.qr.url.path, '/#')
                      )
                      // subdomain should contain num{3}alpha or alphanum{3}
                      and regex.icontains(.scan.qr.url.domain.subdomain,
                                          '^(?:[a-z]+[0-9]{3}|[0-9]{3}[a-z]+)$'
                      )
                      // url path should contain num{3}alpha or alphanum{3}
                      and regex.icontains(.scan.qr.url.path,
                                          '\/(?:[a-z]+[0-9]{3}|[0-9]{3}[a-z]+)\/'
                      )
                    )
                    or (
                      // special char in the path
                      (
                        strings.contains(.scan.qr.url.path, '!')
                        or strings.contains(.scan.qr.url.path, '@')
                      )
                      and (
                        strings.contains(.scan.qr.url.path, '/$')
                        or strings.contains(.scan.qr.url.path, '/*')
                        or strings.contains(.scan.qr.url.path, '/#')
                        // hex dollar sign
                        or strings.icontains(.scan.qr.url.path, '%24')
                        // hex star
                        or strings.icontains(.scan.qr.url.path, '%2A')
                        // hex pound
                        or strings.icontains(.scan.qr.url.path, '%23')
                      )
                      // ensure expected ordering
                      and regex.icontains(.scan.qr.url.url,
                                          '[!@].*(?:[$*]|%2[A43])'
                      )
                    )
                  )
          )
        )
        or (
          // pdf or images
          (
            .file_type == "pdf" or .file_type in $file_types_images
          )
          //
          // This rule makes use of a beta feature and is subject to change without notice
          // using the beta feature in custom rules is not suggested until it has been formally released
          //
          and any(beta.scan_qr(.).items,
                  .type is not null
                  // a single path
                  and strings.count(.url.path, '/') == 2
                  and (
                    (
                      (
                        strings.contains(.url.path, '/$')
                        or strings.contains(.url.path, '/*')
                        or strings.contains(.url.path, '/#')
                      )
                      // subdomain should contain num{3}alpha or alphanum{3}
                      and regex.icontains(.url.domain.subdomain,
                                          '^(?:[a-z]+[0-9]{3}|[0-9]{3}[a-z]+)$'
                      )
                      // url path should contain num{3}alpha or alphanum{3}
                      and regex.icontains(.url.path,
                                          '\/(?:[a-z]+[0-9]{3}|[0-9]{3}[a-z]+)\/'
                      )
                    )
                    or (
                      // special char in the path
                      (
                        strings.contains(.url.path, '!')
                        or strings.contains(.url.path, '@')
                      )
                      and (
                        strings.contains(.url.path, '/$')
                        or strings.contains(.url.path, '/*')
                        or strings.contains(.url.path, '/#')
                        // hex dollar sign
                        or strings.icontains(.url.path, '%24')
                        // hex star
                        or strings.icontains(.url.path, '%2A')
                        // hex pound
                        or strings.icontains(.url.path, '%23')
                      )
                      // ensure expected ordering
                      and regex.icontains(.url.url, '[!@].*(?:[$*]|%2[A43])')
                    )
                  )
          )
        )
)
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