Detection rules › Elastic

Scriptlet Execution via CMSTP

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

Identifies when scrobj.dll is loaded into the Microsoft Connection Manager Profile Installer (cmstp.exe) process. This may indicate an attempt to bypass application whitelisting by executing a malicious scriptlet in a trusted process.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Rule body

[rule]
description = """
Identifies when scrobj.dll is loaded into the Microsoft Connection Manager Profile Installer (cmstp.exe) process. This
may indicate an attempt to bypass application whitelisting by executing a malicious scriptlet in a trusted process.
"""
id = "8adfa9ad-0ed2-4b1b-bdad-f2c52e1d2a00"
license = "Elastic License v2"
name = "Scriptlet Execution via CMSTP"
os_list = ["windows"]
reference = ["https://lolbas-project.github.io/lolbas/Binaries/Cmstp/"]
version = "1.0.31"

query = '''
sequence by process.entity_id with maxspan=1m
 [process where event.action == "start" and process.pe.original_file_name == "CMSTP.EXE"]
 [library where dll.name : "scrobj.dll"]
'''

min_endpoint_version = "7.15.0"
[[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 = "T1059"
name = "Command and Scripting Interpreter"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1059/"
[[threat.technique.subtechnique]]
id = "T1059.005"
name = "Visual Basic"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1059/005/"

[[threat.technique.subtechnique]]
id = "T1059.007"
name = "JavaScript"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1059/007/"



[threat.tactic]
id = "TA0002"
name = "Execution"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0002/"
[[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 = "T1218.003"
name = "CMSTP"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1218/003/"



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

[internal]
min_endpoint_version = "7.15.0"

Stages and Predicates

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

Stage 1: process

[process where event.action == "start" and process.pe.original_file_name == "CMSTP.EXE"]

Stage 2: library

[library where dll.name : "scrobj.dll"]

Indicators

These rows show field, operator, and value matches.

FieldKindValuesSearch
dll.namewildcard
  • scrobj.dll corpus 5 (elastic 5)
field:"dll.name" kind:wildcard value:"scrobj.dll"
event.actioneq
  • start corpus 391 (elastic 391)
field:"EventType" kind:eq value:"start"
process.pe.original_file_nameeq
  • CMSTP.EXE corpus 11 (elastic 6, sigma 5)
field:"OriginalFileName" kind:eq value:"CMSTP.EXE"