Detection rules › Elastic

Execution via MsiExec DownloadAndExecute CustomAction

Time window
1m
Sequence by
process.entity_id, process.parent.entity_id
Source
github.com/elastic/protections-artifacts

Detects attempts to download and execute a file via a Windows Installer CustomAction.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Rule body

[rule]
description = "Detects attempts to download and execute a file via a Windows Installer CustomAction."
id = "70c01e6b-bc59-411e-9bf7-6a46e08d953b"
license = "Elastic License v2"
name = "Execution via MsiExec DownloadAndExecute CustomAction"
os_list = ["windows"]
version = "1.0.3"

query = '''
sequence with maxspan=1m
 [process where event.action == "start" and process.name : "rundll32.exe" and
  process.command_line : "*!CustomActions.DownloadAndExecute*"] by process.entity_id
 [dns where event.action == "lookup_requested" and
  process.name : "rundll32.exe" and dns.question.name : "?*"] by process.entity_id
 [process where event.action == "start" and process.parent.name : "rundll32.exe"] by process.parent.entity_id
'''

min_endpoint_version = "8.10.0"
reputation = true
[[actions]]
action = "kill_process"
field = "process.entity_id"
state = 0

[[actions]]
action = "kill_process"
field = "process.entity_id"
state = 2

[[optional_actions]]
action = "rollback"
field = "process.entity_id"
state = 0

[[threat]]
framework = "MITRE ATT&CK"
[[threat.technique]]
id = "T1218"
name = "System Binary Proxy Execution"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1218/"
[[threat.technique.subtechnique]]
id = "T1218.007"
name = "Msiexec"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1218/007/"

[[threat.technique.subtechnique]]
id = "T1218.011"
name = "Rundll32"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1218/011/"



[threat.tactic]
id = "TA0005"
name = "Defense Evasion"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0005/"

[internal]
min_endpoint_version = "8.10.0"

Stages and Predicates

Ordered sequence: each step below must occur in order within 1m, correlated by process.entity_id, process.parent.entity_id.

Stage 1: process

[process where event.action == "start" and process.name : "rundll32.exe" and
  process.command_line : "*!CustomActions.DownloadAndExecute*"] by process.entity_id

Stage 2: dns

[dns where event.action == "lookup_requested" and
  process.name : "rundll32.exe" and dns.question.name : "?*"] by process.entity_id

Stage 3: process

[process where event.action == "start" and process.parent.name : "rundll32.exe"] by process.parent.entity_id

Indicators

These rows show field, operator, and value matches.

FieldKindValuesSearch
dns.question.namewildcard
  • ?*
field:"QueryName" kind:wildcard value:"?*"
event.actioneq
  • lookup_requested corpus 8 (elastic 8)
  • start corpus 391 (elastic 391)
field:"EventType" kind:eq
process.command_linewildcard
  • *!CustomActions.DownloadAndExecute*
field:"CommandLine" kind:wildcard value:"*!CustomActions.DownloadAndExecute*"
process.namewildcard
  • rundll32.exe corpus 126 (elastic 100, splunk 26)
field:"process_name" kind:wildcard value:"rundll32.exe"
process.parent.namewildcard
  • rundll32.exe corpus 20 (elastic 20)
field:"parent_process_name" kind:wildcard value:"rundll32.exe"