Configure indicator expiration - Cortex XSOAR indicators have an active or expired status which can be set to expire after a specific period or never to expire. Set default expiration method. - Threat Intel Management Guide - Administrator Guide - 8 - Cortex XSOAR - Cortex - Security Operations

Cortex XSOAR Cloud Documentation
Product
Cortex XSOAR
Version
8
Creation date
2024-03-07
Last date published
2025-05-22
Category
Administrator Guide
Solution
Cloud
Abstract

Cortex XSOAR indicators have an active or expired status which can be set to expire after a specific period or never to expire. Set default expiration method.

Indicators can have the Expiration Status field set to Active or Expired, which is determined by the Expiration field. When indicators expire, they still exist in Cortex XSOAR, meaning they are still displayed and you can still search for them. A job that runs daily checks for newly expired indicators and updates the Expiration Status field.

When indicators expire, the expiration status and expiration fields are updated. You can use it to take actions based on indicator expiration. For more information, see Indicator field trigger scripts.

You can set the default expiration method for indicators either to never expire or to expire after a specific period. The default expiration method is set by the indicator type. For more information see Indicator type profile.

The following table shows the hierarchy by which indicators are expired.

Method

Description

Manual

Manually expire the indicator either in the indicator layout or CLI. This method overrides all other methods.

Note

You need a TIM license to access the indicator layout.

Use the expireIndicators command to change the expiration status to Expired for one or more indicators. This command accepts a comma-separated list of indicator values and supports multiple indicator types. For example, you can set the expiration status for an IP address, domain, and file hash: !expireIndicators value=1.1.1.1,safeurl.com,45356A9DB614ED7161A3B9192E2F318D0AB5AD10

Use the !setIndicators command to reset the indicators' expiration value. The parameter's value can either be never or a time in ISO 8601 format. For example, 2006-01-02T15:04:05Z (for UTC time) or 2006-01-02T15:04:05Z07:00 (UTC +7 hours).

Examples:

  • !setIndicators indicatorsValues=watson.com expiration=Never

  • !setIndicators indicatorsValues=watson.com expiration=2006-01-02T15:04:05Z

You can also use these commands in a script, but the user can override this if running a command in the CLI or the indicator layout.

Feed integration

Some integrations support setting the expiration method on an integration instance level, which overrides the method defined for the indicator type.

Note

If a feed's expiration method is set to When removed from the feed, indicators that are removed from the feed immediately expire. Note that if the feed is disabled, its expiration method reverts to that of the indicator type (time-based).

Time-based expiration is set according to feed reliability. If the same indicator appears on multiple feeds, the feed with the highest reliability determines the indicator's expiration time. If multiple feeds have the same reliability, the last feed to add or modify the indicator determines its expiration time.

Example:

  • An indicator was initially fetched by Feed A, then by Feed B.

  • Both feeds have the same reliability.

  • Feed B's indicators are set to expire When removed from the feed.

  • Feed B is now disabled.

After Feed B is disabled, the indicator's expiration method reverts to that of the indicator type (for example, expire after 7 days). However, if Feed A then modifies the indicator (or removes and re-adds it), the expiration method changes back to Feed A's settings.

Indicator type

The expiration method (interval or never) is defined according to indicator type, which applies to all indicators of this type. This is the default expiration method for an indicator.