Detection rules › Elastic
Process Creation via ROP Gadgets
Identifies the creation of a process from unusual modules or NTDLL offsets. This may indicate an attempt to bypass API monitoring using Return Oriented Programming (ROP) assembly gadgets to execute a syscall instruction.
MITRE ATT&CK coverage
| Tactic | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Stealth |
Rule body
[rule]
description = """
Identifies the creation of a process from unusual modules or NTDLL offsets. This may indicate an attempt to bypass API
monitoring using Return Oriented Programming (ROP) assembly gadgets to execute a syscall instruction.
"""
id = "4cd250a2-82a0-463b-adda-5256cee422ce"
license = "Elastic License v2"
name = "Process Creation via ROP Gadgets"
os_list = ["windows"]
version = "1.0.23"
query = '''
process where event.action == "start" and
not process.Ext.token.integrity_level_name == "low" and
process.parent.thread.Ext.call_stack_summary : ("ntdll.dll|*", "win32u.dll|*") and
not _arraysearch(process.parent.thread.Ext.call_stack, $entry, $entry.symbol_info:
("*ntdll.dll!*CreateUserProcess*",
"*ntdll.dll!*DeviceIoControlFile*",
"*ntdll.dll!*CreateThreadEx*",
"*ntdll.dll!*AssignProcessToJobObject*",
"*ntdll.dll!*DeleteAtom*",
"*ntdll.dll!NtSetEvent*",
"*ntdll.dll!NtCallbackReturn*",
"*KernelBase.dll*!CreateProcess*",
"*ntdll.dll+*",
"*ntdll.dll!*ReadFile*",
"*ntdll.dll!NtReplyWaitReceivePort*",
"*KernelBase.dll!WriteConsoleW*",
"*ntdll.dll!NtDebugContinue*",
"*kernel32.dll!CreateProcess*",
"*ntdll.dll!ZwCreateMailslotFile*",
"*ntdll.dll!*EnableLastKnownGood*",
"*ntdll.dll!*CreateEnclave*",
"*ntdll.dll!ZwCreateTimer*",
"*ntdll.dll!ZwCreateKeyedEvent*",
"*ntdll.dll!NtSinglePhaseReject*",
"*ntdll.dll!RtlCompleteProcessCloning*",
"*ntdll.dll!NtCreateWaitCompletionPacket*",
"C:\\Windows\\System32\\ntdll.dll!NtAlpcDeleteSecurityContext+*",
"C:\\Windows\\System32\\ntdll.dll!NtCreateRegistryTransaction*",
"C:\\Windows\\System32\\ntdll.dll!NtCreatePrivateNamespace*",
"C:\\Windows\\System32\\ntdll.dll!NtDeletePrivateNamespace*",
"C:\\Windows\\System32\\ntdll.dll!NtSetInformationDebugObject*",
"C:\\Windows\\System32\\ntdll.dll!NtQueryAttributesFile*",
"C:\\Windows\\System32\\ntdll.dll!NtOpenPrivateNamespace*",
"C:\\Windows\\System32\\kernel32.dll!LoadLibrary*",
"C:\\Windows\\System32\\KernelBase.dll!LoadLibrary*")) and
not _arraysearch(process.parent.thread.Ext.call_stack, $entry, $entry.symbol_info : "*ntdll.dll*" and $entry.allocation_private_bytes > 0) and
not _arraysearch(process.parent.thread.Ext.call_stack, $entry, $entry.symbol_info : "*ntdll.dll+0x*") and
not process.executable : ("?:\\Windows\\System32\\conhost.exe", "?:\\Windows\\SysWOW64\\WerFault.exe") and
not (process.executable : "?:\\Windows\\System32\\sppsvc.exe" and process.Ext.protection == "PsProtectedSignerWindows" and
process.parent.thread.Ext.call_stack_summary == "ntdll.dll|kernelbase.dll|kernel32.dll|services.exe|rpcrt4.dll|ntdll.dll|kernel32.dll|ntdll.dll")
'''
min_endpoint_version = "8.8.0"
[[actions]]
action = "kill_process"
field = "process.entity_id"
state = 0
[[optional_actions]]
action = "rollback"
field = "process.entity_id"
state = 0
[[threat]]
framework = "MITRE ATT&CK"
[[threat.technique]]
id = "T1055"
name = "Process Injection"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1055/"
[threat.tactic]
id = "TA0005"
name = "Defense Evasion"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0005/"
[internal]
min_endpoint_version = "8.8.0"
Stages and Predicates
Stage 1: process
process where event.action == "start" and
not process.Ext.token.integrity_level_name == "low" and
process.parent.thread.Ext.call_stack_summary : ("ntdll.dll|*", "win32u.dll|*") and
not _arraysearch(process.parent.thread.Ext.call_stack, $entry, $entry.symbol_info:
("*ntdll.dll!*CreateUserProcess*",
"*ntdll.dll!*DeviceIoControlFile*",
"*ntdll.dll!*CreateThreadEx*",
"*ntdll.dll!*AssignProcessToJobObject*",
"*ntdll.dll!*DeleteAtom*",
"*ntdll.dll!NtSetEvent*",
"*ntdll.dll!NtCallbackReturn*",
"*KernelBase.dll*!CreateProcess*",
"*ntdll.dll+*",
"*ntdll.dll!*ReadFile*",
"*ntdll.dll!NtReplyWaitReceivePort*",
"*KernelBase.dll!WriteConsoleW*",
"*ntdll.dll!NtDebugContinue*",
"*kernel32.dll!CreateProcess*",
"*ntdll.dll!ZwCreateMailslotFile*",
"*ntdll.dll!*EnableLastKnownGood*",
"*ntdll.dll!*CreateEnclave*",
"*ntdll.dll!ZwCreateTimer*",
"*ntdll.dll!ZwCreateKeyedEvent*",
"*ntdll.dll!NtSinglePhaseReject*",
"*ntdll.dll!RtlCompleteProcessCloning*",
"*ntdll.dll!NtCreateWaitCompletionPacket*",
"C:\\Windows\\System32\\ntdll.dll!NtAlpcDeleteSecurityContext+*",
"C:\\Windows\\System32\\ntdll.dll!NtCreateRegistryTransaction*",
"C:\\Windows\\System32\\ntdll.dll!NtCreatePrivateNamespace*",
"C:\\Windows\\System32\\ntdll.dll!NtDeletePrivateNamespace*",
"C:\\Windows\\System32\\ntdll.dll!NtSetInformationDebugObject*",
"C:\\Windows\\System32\\ntdll.dll!NtQueryAttributesFile*",
"C:\\Windows\\System32\\ntdll.dll!NtOpenPrivateNamespace*",
"C:\\Windows\\System32\\kernel32.dll!LoadLibrary*",
"C:\\Windows\\System32\\KernelBase.dll!LoadLibrary*")) and
not _arraysearch(process.parent.thread.Ext.call_stack, $entry, $entry.symbol_info : "*ntdll.dll*" and $entry.allocation_private_bytes > 0) and
not _arraysearch(process.parent.thread.Ext.call_stack, $entry, $entry.symbol_info : "*ntdll.dll+0x*") and
not process.executable : ("?:\\Windows\\System32\\conhost.exe", "?:\\Windows\\SysWOW64\\WerFault.exe") and
not (process.executable : "?:\\Windows\\System32\\sppsvc.exe" and process.Ext.protection == "PsProtectedSignerWindows" and
process.parent.thread.Ext.call_stack_summary == "ntdll.dll|kernelbase.dll|kernel32.dll|services.exe|rpcrt4.dll|ntdll.dll|kernel32.dll|ntdll.dll")
Exclusions
The rule actively suppresses these predicates.
Indicators
These rows show field, operator, and value matches.
| Field | Kind | Values | Search |
|---|---|---|---|
event.action | eq |
| field:"EventType" kind:eq value:"start" |
process.parent.thread.Ext.call_stack_summary | wildcard |
| field:"process.parent.thread.Ext.call_stack_summary" kind:wildcard |