Detecting Modbus Command Injection Attacks

When to Use

• When deploying intrusion detection for environments using Modbus TCP (port 502) or Modbus RTU
• When investigating suspected unauthorized modifications to PLC registers or coils
• When building detection analytics for OT SOC monitoring Modbus-heavy environments
• When responding to FrostyGoop-style attacks that leverage Modbus TCP for operational impact
• When performing baseline validation after a suspected compromise of a Modbus master

Do not use for detecting attacks on non-Modbus protocols (see detecting-dnp3-protocol-anomalies for DNP3), for general IT network intrusion detection, or for Modbus device configuration (see performing-ot-vulnerability-scanning-safely).

Prerequisites

• Network SPAN/TAP on the segment carrying Modbus TCP traffic (typically port 502)
• Baseline of normal Modbus communication patterns (masters, slaves, function codes, register ranges, polling intervals)
• Suricata, Zeek, or commercial OT IDS deployed with Modbus protocol parsers enabled
• Understanding of Modbus function codes used in the environment (read vs write operations)
• Access to PLC programming documentation to validate expected register ranges

Workflow

Step 1: Build Modbus Communication Baseline

Capture and analyze normal Modbus traffic to establish what constitutes legitimate communication patterns.

#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""Modbus Command Injection Detector.

Monitors Modbus TCP traffic for unauthorized write operations, anomalous
function codes, and deviations from established communication baselines.
Detects attacks like FrostyGoop that use Modbus TCP for operational impact.
"""

import json
import struct
import sys
import time
from collections import defaultdict
from datetime import datetime
from typing import Dict, List, Optional, Set, Tuple

try:
    from scapy.all import sniff, IP, TCP
except ImportError:
    print("Install scapy: pip install scapy")
    sys.exit(1)


# Modbus function code definitions
MODBUS_READ_FUNCTIONS = {1, 2, 3, 4}
MODBUS_WRITE_FUNCTIONS = {5, 6, 15, 16}
MODBUS_DIAGNOSTIC_FUNCTIONS = {8, 17, 43}

MODBUS_FUNC_NAMES = {
    1: "Read Coils", 2: "Read Discrete Inputs",
    3: "Read Holding Registers", 4: "Read Input Registers",
    5: "Write Single Coil", 6: "Write Single Register",
    8: "Diagnostics", 15: "Write Multiple Coils",
    16: "Write Multiple Registers", 17: "Report Slave ID",
    22: "Mask Write Register", 23: "Read/Write Multiple Registers",
    43: "Encapsulated Interface Transport",
}


class ModbusAlert:
    """Represents a detected Modbus anomaly."""

    def __init__(self, severity: str, alert_type: str, src_ip: str,
                 dst_ip: str, unit_id: int, func_code: int,
                 description: str, mitre_technique: str = ""):
        self.timestamp = datetime.now().isoformat()
        self.severity = severity
        self.alert_type = alert_type
        self.src_ip = src_ip
        self.dst_ip = dst_ip
        self.unit_id = unit_id
        self.func_code = func_code
        self.func_name = MODBUS_FUNC_NAMES.get(func_code, f"Unknown FC {func_code}")
        self.description = description
        self.mitre_technique = mitre_technique

    def __str__(self):
        return (
            f"[{self.severity}] {self.alert_type} | {self.src_ip} -> {self.dst_ip} "
            f"| Unit {self.unit_id} | {self.func_name} | {self.description}"
        )


class ModbusInjectionDetector:
    """Detects Modbus command injection attacks."""

    def __init__(self, baseline_file: Optional[str] = None):
        self.alerts: List[ModbusAlert] = []
        self.packet_count = 0
        self.modbus_count = 0

        # Baseline data
        self.authorized_masters: Set[str] = set()
        self.authorized_pairs: Set[Tuple[str, str]] = set()
        self.allowed_write_sources: Set[str] = set()
        self.allowed_function_codes: Dict[str, Set[int]] = defaultdict(set)
        self.allowed_register_ranges: Dict[str, List[Tuple[int, int]]] = defaultdict(list)
        self.polling_intervals: Dict[str, float] = {}
        self.last_seen: Dict[str, float] = {}

        # Counters for rate detection
        self.write_counts: Dict[str, List[float]] = defaultdict(list)

        if baseline_file:
            self.load_baseline(baseline_file)

    def load_baseline(self, filepath: str):
        """Load established Modbus communication baseline."""
        with open(filepath, "r") as f:

…