IP Threat Report
52.138.22.173
ABUSE.MOM — BEHAVE OR GET EXPOSED
Geolocation & Classification
Detection Signatures
| Signature | Description | Points | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|
| UA suspicious (short/empty) | Behavioral anomaly detected by automated analysis | +15 | |
| Danger strong hits: 48 | High-risk paths: shells, RCE vectors, exploits | +100 | |
| Danger medium hits: 150 | Medium-risk: admin panels, config files | +60 | |
| 404 ratio 40-60% | Majority of requests returned 404 — enumeration | +15 | |
| Probe pattern 302->404 same path | Behavioral anomaly detected by automated analysis | +20 | |
| Burst: 22 req / 2s | Abnormally fast request rate — automated scanning | +35 | |
| Burst: 65 req / 10s | Abnormally fast request rate — automated scanning | +35 | |
| Danger strong hits: 64 | High-risk paths: shells, RCE vectors, exploits | +100 | |
| Danger medium hits: 151 | Medium-risk: admin panels, config files | +60 | |
| Burst: 24 req / 2s | Abnormally fast request rate — automated scanning | +35 | |
| Burst: 86 req / 10s | Abnormally fast request rate — automated scanning | +35 | |
| Danger strong hits: 88 | High-risk paths: shells, RCE vectors, exploits | +100 | |
| Danger medium hits: 226 | Medium-risk: admin panels, config files | +60 | |
| Burst: 87 req / 10s | Abnormally fast request rate — automated scanning | +35 | |
| Burst: 80 req / 10s | Abnormally fast request rate — automated scanning | +35 | |
| Danger strong hits: 24 | High-risk paths: shells, RCE vectors, exploits | +100 | |
| Danger medium hits: 75 | Medium-risk: admin panels, config files | +60 | |
| 404 ratio >= 60% | Majority of requests returned 404 — enumeration | +25 | |
| Burst: 68 req / 10s | Abnormally fast request rate — automated scanning | +35 | |
| Burst: 23 req / 2s | Abnormally fast request rate — automated scanning | +35 | |
| Burst: 74 req / 10s | Abnormally fast request rate — automated scanning | +35 | |
| Burst: 21 req / 2s | Abnormally fast request rate — automated scanning | +35 | |
| Burst: 67 req / 10s | Abnormally fast request rate — automated scanning | +35 | |
| Burst: 75 req / 10s | Abnormally fast request rate — automated scanning | +35 | |
| Burst: 81 req / 10s | Abnormally fast request rate — automated scanning | +35 | |
| Burst: 76 req / 10s | Abnormally fast request rate — automated scanning | +35 | |
| Burst: 85 req / 10s | Abnormally fast request rate — automated scanning | +35 | |
| Burst: 78 req / 10s | Abnormally fast request rate — automated scanning | +35 | |
| Burst: 83 req / 10s | Abnormally fast request rate — automated scanning | +35 | |
| Burst: 66 req / 10s | Abnormally fast request rate — automated scanning | +35 | |
| Burst: 69 req / 10s | Abnormally fast request rate — automated scanning | +35 | |
| Burst: 71 req / 10s | Abnormally fast request rate — automated scanning | +35 | |
| Burst: 77 req / 10s | Abnormally fast request rate — automated scanning | +35 | |
| Burst: 64 req / 10s | Abnormally fast request rate — automated scanning | +35 | |
| Burst: 79 req / 10s | Abnormally fast request rate — automated scanning | +35 | |
| Burst: 82 req / 10s | Abnormally fast request rate — automated scanning | +35 | |
| Burst: 62 req / 10s | Abnormally fast request rate — automated scanning | +35 | |
| Burst: 72 req / 10s | Abnormally fast request rate — automated scanning | +35 | |
| Danger strong hits: 38 | High-risk paths: shells, RCE vectors, exploits | +100 | |
| Danger medium hits: 85 | Medium-risk: admin panels, config files | +60 | |
| Danger strong hits: 26 | High-risk paths: shells, RCE vectors, exploits | +100 | |
| Danger medium hits: 66 | Medium-risk: admin panels, config files | +60 | |
| Danger medium hits: 147 | Medium-risk: admin panels, config files | +60 | |
| Burst: 49 req / 10s | Abnormally fast request rate — automated scanning | +35 |
Observed Activity
Reconstructed HTTP requests from server access logs. Target domains redacted for security.
* Typical request patterns for detected signatures. Actual target domains are redacted.
Timeline
Network Provider
Recommendations
Actions taken & recommended
- IP 52.138.22.173 is blocked at application level (HTTP 403)
- Consider blocking at firewall level (iptables/CSF) to reduce server load
- Report abuse to the network provider via their abuse contact
- Ensure sensitive files (.env, .git, backups) are not accessible from the web
🤖 User-Agent Anomaly Defense
IP 52.138.22.173 shows suspicious UA behavior. Block empty User-Agent requests. Implement JavaScript-based bot detection for sensitive endpoints.
🔎 Path Enumeration Protection
Block scanning from 52.138.22.173: rate-limit 404 responses per IP, deploy a honeypot 404 page, ensure no backup files are web-accessible.
🌊 Traffic Flood Defense
IP 52.138.22.173 is generating excessive traffic. Limit connections per source IP. Enable geographic blocking if traffic from this region is unexpected.
Blacklist Status (DNSBL)
This IP was checked against major DNS-based blacklists used by mail servers and firewalls worldwide.
Checked: Spamhaus, SpamCop, Barracuda, SORBS, CBL, UCEProtect. Results may change over time.
Threat Analysis
52.138.22.173 has been assigned a threat score of 280/100 (Critical). This is a critical-level threat. Systems administrators should treat this IP as hostile and block all inbound connections without exception.
The following attack categories were identified:
📊 Threat Analysis
Network traffic from 52.138.22.173, located in Toronto, Canada, operating on the network of Microsoft Corporation, has been classified as malicious by our automated threat scoring engine. Our sensors captured 48 malicious requests from this address across a 2-day span, reflecting a sustained attack cadence of ~24 requests per day. The IP is classified as hosting/datacenter infrastructure, commonly associated with rented servers used for automated attack campaigns, botnet command-and-control, or vulnerability scanning at scale. The diversity of 3 separate attack methods suggests a comprehensive attack toolkit — likely an automated scanner that tests for vulnerabilities across multiple categories. With 106 flagged addresses, Canada represents a significant presence in our threat database. At 280/100, this is an extremely high-risk address. All traffic should be considered hostile.
This IP belongs to a hosting or data center provider. Malicious traffic from hosting infrastructure often originates from compromised VPS instances, rented servers used for scanning campaigns, or abused free-tier cloud accounts. Hosting providers typically respond to abuse reports within 24-72 hours.
Related Threats
Security Intelligence
💡 User-Agent Analysis Techniques
Analyzing User-Agent strings reveals automated tools masquerading as legitimate browsers. Inconsistencies between claimed browser capabilities and actual behavior, impossible version combinations, and known scanner signatures help identify malicious clients.
💡 IPv6 Scanning Challenges
The vast IPv6 address space makes traditional sequential scanning impractical. However, attackers use DNS records, certificate transparency logs, and predictable address patterns to identify active IPv6 hosts, adapting their techniques to the expanded address space.