Carbon Black Cloud API Access

Introduction

This guide covers the steps required for accessing Carbon Black Cloud APIs:

  1. Authenticating your request
  2. Constructing your Request
  3. Structure of Base URLs
  4. Troubleshooting

Making a Call

As either a quick start or to know where we are going, this a sample request to get all devices with a specific id.

$ curl https://defense.conferdeploy.net/appservices/v6/orgs/ABCD1234/devices/_search \
-X POST \
-H 'X-Auth-Token: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNO123456789/ABCD123456' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{"criteria": {"id": [ "4034605" ]}}'

This is the same request with the variables named. Follow the information on this page for info on how to create them.

$ curl {hostname}/{API Service Category}/{API path} \
-X POST \
-H 'X-Auth-Token: {API Secret}/{API ID}' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{{request body}}'

Coming soon: Getting Started with APIs on Tech Zone

Authenticating your Request

Carbon Black Cloud APIs and Services are authenticated via API Keys. This means that in order to access the data in Carbon Black Cloud via API, you must set up Access Levels and API Keys in the Carbon Black Cloud Console.

The first step of Authentication is determining the appropriate access level for the API. The majority of APIs use an API Key type of Custom. The exceptions are three APIs in Endpoint Standard:

  • integrationServices/v3/policy requires an API Key of type API
  • integrationServices/v3/auditlogs requires an API Key of type API
  • integrationServices/v3/notification requires an API Key of type SIEM

Creating a Custom Access Level

  1. If your service category uses an API Key type Custom Access Level, an Access Level with minimal permissions should be created to follow the practice of least privilege. Go to your Carbon Black Cloud console, and open the “Add Access Level” panel from Settings > API Access > Access Levels tab.
  2. Give the access level a unique name (you will need this for creating your API Key) and give it a description.
  3. From the table below, scroll down until you see your API Service Category. Some Service Categories have multiple permissions that can be configured. The API documentation will indicate which permissions are required for each call.

This example shows the permissions “Create”, “Read”, “Update”, and “Delete” are granted for the Settings permissions in the Data Forwarding category.

For more information about Role-Based Access, see the RBAC Guide.

Creating an API Key

This is like adding a user to a system and setting their access level, except you are granting access to your application or script instead of a user.

  1. To create an API Key, go to Settings > API Access > API Keys tab in the Carbon Black Cloud console.
  2. Select “Add API Key” from the far right.
  3. Give the API Key a unique name, and select the appropriate access level provided in the table above. If you select “Custom”, you will need to choose the Access Level you created in the prior section.
    • Choose a name to clearly distinguish the API from your organization’s other API Keys.
      Example: Event_Forwarder_Test_Key
    • For keys of type API and SIEM, you can also add Authorized IP addresses and a description to differentiate among your APIs. Administrators can restrict use of an API Key to a specific set of IP addresses for security reasons.


  1. Hit save, and you will be provided with your API Key Credentials:
    • API Secret Key
    • API ID
  2. If your API Key already exists, you can view your credentials opening the Actions dropdown and selecting API Credentials. This will reveal your API Secret Key and API ID.
    • If your system becomes compromised, you can generate a new secret key here (this is like changing the password for your application or script).


Constructing your Request

You will need to construct your base URL in order to run the API calls.

Building your Base URLs

The base URL is comprised of the following:

  • Hostname + Environment (based on your organization’s product instance)
  • API Service Category (based on which Carbon Black Cloud product the API is for)
  • API path (based on the API version you choose)
  • Org key (found in your product console under Settings > API Access > API Keys)

These components are put together in the following structure:

Hostname / API Service Category / API Path / Org Key

Explaining the URL Parts

Hostname

First you need to determine which environment, or product URL you use. You can find this by looking at the web address of your Carbon Black Cloud console. Select your URL to view a table with the base URL for each product and API.

Environment hostname
EAP01 https://defense-eap01.conferdeploy.net
Prod 01 https://dashboard.confer.net
Prod 02 https://defense.conferdeploy.net
Prod 05 https://defense-prod05.conferdeploy.net
Prod 06 https://defense-eu.conferdeploy.net
Prod NRT https://defense-prodnrt.conferdeploy.net
Prod Syd https://defense-prodsyd.conferdeploy.net

API Service Category

The API Service Category corresponds to the Carbon Black Cloud product and API you use

  • Platform APIs use one of the following API Service Categories:
    • /appservices/ for Alerts, Devices, Live Response and Reputation Override APIs v6
    • /data_forwarder/ for the Data Forwarder Configuration APIs (previously Event Forwarder)
    • /investigate/ for the Platform Search APIs (Processes or Enriched Events)
    • /jobs/ for the Jobs Service APIs
    • /sus/ for the Sensor Update Service APIs
    • /vulnerability/assessment/api/ for the Vulnerability Assessment APIs
  • Enterprise EDR APIs use one of the following API Service Categories:
    • /threathunter/ for the Feed Search and Feed Manager APIs
    • /ubs/ for the Unified Binary Store REST API
  • Audit and Remediation APIs use /livequery/
  • Endpoint Standard APIs use one of the following API Service Categories:
    • /device_control/ for the Device Control APIs
    • /integrationServices/ for the Integration Service APIs for Audit Logs, Policy and Notification APIs
    • /investigate/ for the Enriched Events Search APIs
  • Workload APIs use one of the following API Service Categories:
    • /applianceservice/ for the Appliance Service APIs
    • /lcm/view/ for the VM Workloads Search APIs
    • /lcm/ for the Sensor Lifecycle Management APIs

API Path

The API Path is specific to the API call you’re using. Usually it is the API version, e.g. v1.

Org Key

Most Carbon Black Cloud APIs or Services require an org_key in the API request path to support customers who manage multiple organizations.

  • You can find your org_key in the Carbon Black Cloud Console under Settings > API Access.
  • When inserting your Org Key, do not include any < > or { } brackets around the value.

Structure of Base URLs

Get your {hostname} from the section above.

Follow the API Name for details on the request and response structure for each API call.

Product & API Name Service Category API Key Access Level Type Base URL Structure
Platform (Any Carbon Black Cloud Product)
Access Profiles and Grants /access/ Custom (with appropriate permissions) {hostname}/access/v2/orgs/{org_key}/
Alerts /appservices/ Custom (with appropriate permissions) {hostname}/appservices/v6/orgs/{org_key}/alerts
Data Forwarder Configuration /data_forwarder/ Custom (with appropriate permissions) {hostname}/data_forwarder/v2/orgs/{org_key}/configs
Devices /appservices/ Custom (with appropriate permissions) {hostname}/appservices/v6/orgs/{org_key}/devices
Jobs Service /jobs/ Custom (with appropriate permissions) {hostname}/jobs/v1/orgs/{org_key}
Live Response v6 /appservices/ Custom (with appropriate permissions) {hostname}/appservices/v6/orgs/{org_key}/liveresponse
Process Search /investigate/ Custom (with appropriate permissions) {hostname}/investigate/{v1 or v2}/orgs/{org_key}
Reputation Override v6 /appservices/ Custom (with appropriate permissions) {hostname}/appservices/v6/orgs/{org_key}/reputations/overrides
Sensor Update Service /sus/ Custom (with appropriate permissions) {hostname}/sus/v2/orgs/{org_key}
User Management /appservices/ Custom (with appropriate permissions) {hostname}/appservices/v6/orgs/{org_key}/users
Vulnerability Assessment /vulnerability/assessment/api/ Custom (with appropriate permissions) {hostname}/vulnerability/assessment/api/v1/orgs/{org_key}
Endpoint Standard
Audit Logs /integrationServices/ API (Live Response is deprecated) {hostname}/integrationServices/v3/auditlogs
Device Control /device_control/ Custom (with appropriate permissions) {hostname}/device_control/v3/orgs/{org_key}
Enriched Events Search /investigate/* Custom (with appropriate permissions) {hostname}/investigate/{v1 or v2}/orgs/{org_key}
Notifications /integrationServices/ SIEM {hostname}/integrationServices/v3/notification
Policy /integrationServices/ API (Live Response is deprecated) {hostname}/integrationServices/v3/policy
Enterprise EDR
Feed Manager /threathunter/feedmgr Custom (with appropriate permissions) {hostname}/threathunter/feedmgr/v2/orgs/{org_key}/feeds
Feed Search /threathunter/feedsearch Custom (with appropriate permissions) {hostname}/threathunter/feedsearch/v1/orgs/{org_key}/search
Unified Binary Store /ubs/ Custom (with appropriate permissions) {hostname}/ubs/v1/orgs/{org_key}
Watchlist /threathunter/watchlistmgr/ Custom (with appropriate permissions) {hostname}/threathunter/watchlistmgr/v3/orgs/{org_key}/watchlists
Audit and Remediation
Live Query /livequery/ Custom (with appropriate permissions) {hostname}/livequery/v1/orgs/{org_key}
Workload
Appliance Service /applianceservice/ Custom (with appropriate permissions) {hostname}/applianceservice/v1/orgs/{org_key}
Sensor Lifecycle Management /lcm/ Custom (with appropriate permissions) {hostname}/lcm/v1/orgs/{org_key}
NSX Remediation /applianceservice/ Custom (with appropriate permissions) {hostname}/applianceservice/v1/orgs/{org_key}
VM Workloads Search /lcm/view/ Custom (with appropriate permissions) {hostname}/lcm/view/v1/orgs/{org_key}

Make the Request

Now you have all the information needed to populate the template curl request from the beginning and make your own request.

$ curl {hostname}/{API Service Category}/{API path} \
-X POST \
-H 'X-Auth-Token: {API Secret}/{API ID}' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{{request body}}'

Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting REST API Errors

Error Code Reason for Error Suggested Fix
HTTP 400 Bad request Usually means that request contains unexpected parameters. Verify that your request adheres to API documentation.
HTTP 401 Unauthorized Either authentication (invalid token) or access control (missing RBAC) error. Check that your X-Auth-Token matches the format secret_key/api_id and that the values are correct.
HTTP 403 Forbidden The specified object cannot be accessed or changed. If it has a Custom access level, check it has been assigned the correct RBAC permissions. If it is an API, SIEM or LIVE_RESPONSE type key, verify it is the right key type for the API in use.
HTTP 404 Not found The object referenced in the request cannot be found. Verify that your request contains objects that haven’t been deleted. Verify that theorg_keyin the path is correct.
HTTP 409 Conflict Either the name you chose already exists, or there is an unacceptable character used. Change any spaces in the name to underscores. Look through your list of API Keys and see if there is an existing key with the same name.
HTTP 410 Gone Access to the target resource is no longer available at the origin server and that this condition is likely to be permanent. It is likely this API was deactivated. Review the documentation to find the replacement and migration information.
HTTP 503 Service unavailable Cannot return object at this moment because service is unavailable. This can happen if too many file downloads are happening at the same time. You can try later.
HTTP 500 Internal Server Error An unexpected error occured on the server Something went wrong on the back end. Try the request again and if it happens consistently open a support case.

Other Troubleshooting Tips

  • When passing your auth token in the header, make sure the API Secret Key is first and the API ID is second.
  • Make sure you are using your own API Secret key from the product console and not ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWX.
  • When inserting your Org Key, do not include any < > or { } brackets between the backslashes.
  • An HTTP 401 Unauthorized error can occur if you attempt to access an API that is not allowed by a given API Key Access Level.
  • If you have issues, try testing in Postman so you can evaluate your request in a raw format before scripting.

Related Resources & Guides

Last modified on March 24, 2022