Detection rules › Elastic

Windows Script Executed From a Suspicious Path

Time window
5m
Source
github.com/elastic/protections-artifacts

Identifies execution of a Windows script from downloads or desktop folders followed by spawning a child process or performing an outgoing network connection to the internet.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Rule body

[rule]
description = """
Identifies execution of a Windows script from downloads or desktop folders followed by spawning a child process or
performing an outgoing network connection to the internet.
"""
id = "21066b21-0555-45df-b090-d4051d2d88bd"
license = "Elastic License v2"
name = "Windows Script Executed From a Suspicious Path"
os_list = ["windows"]
version = "1.0.3"

query = '''
sequence with maxspan=5m
 [process where event.action == "start" and
  process.name in~ ("wscript.exe", "mshta.exe") and
  process.args : ("?:\\Users\\*\\Downloads\\*", "?:\\Users\\*\\Desktop\\*", "?:\\Users\\*\\Documents\\*")] as event0
 [any where

    /* script utility perform an egress connection to the internet */
   (event.category == "network" and event.action in ("disconnect_received", "connection_attempted") and
    process.name in~ ("wscript.exe", "mshta.exe", "hh.exe", "mmc.exe") and
    process.entity_id == event0.process.entity_id and
    not cidrmatch(destination.ip, "10.0.0.0/8", "127.0.0.0/8", "169.254.0.0/16", "172.16.0.0/12", "192.0.0.0/24",
       "192.0.0.0/29", "192.0.0.8/32", "192.0.0.9/32", "192.0.0.10/32", "192.0.0.170/32", "192.0.0.171/32",
       "192.0.2.0/24", "192.31.196.0/24", "192.52.193.0/24", "192.88.99.0/24", "224.0.0.0/4", "192.168.0.0/16",
       "100.64.0.0/10", "192.175.48.0/24","198.18.0.0/15", "198.51.100.0/24", "203.0.113.0/24", "240.0.0.0/4", "::1",
       "FE80::/10", "FF00::/8")) or

   /* script utility spawn a child process */
   (event.category == "process" and event.action == "start" and process.parent.name : "explorer.exe" and
    process.parent.name in~ ("wscript.exe", "mshta.exe") and process.parent.entity_id == event0.process.entity_id)
  ]
'''

min_endpoint_version = "8.4.0"
[[actions]]
action = "kill_process"
field = "process.entity_id"
state = 0
tree = true

[[actions]]
action = "kill_process"
field = "process.entity_id"
state = 1
tree = true

[[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 = "T1218.005"
name = "Mshta"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1218/005/"



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

[internal]
min_endpoint_version = "8.4.0"

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: process

[process where event.action == "start" and
  process.name in~ ("wscript.exe", "mshta.exe") and
  process.args : ("?:\\Users\\*\\Downloads\\*", "?:\\Users\\*\\Desktop\\*", "?:\\Users\\*\\Documents\\*")] as event0

Stage 2: any

[any where
   (event.category == "network" and event.action in ("disconnect_received", "connection_attempted") and
    process.name in~ ("wscript.exe", "mshta.exe", "hh.exe", "mmc.exe") and
    process.entity_id == event0.process.entity_id and
    not cidrmatch(destination.ip, "10.0.0.0/8", "127.0.0.0/8", "169.254.0.0/16", "172.16.0.0/12", "192.0.0.0/24",
       "192.0.0.0/29", "192.0.0.8/32", "192.0.0.9/32", "192.0.0.10/32", "192.0.0.170/32", "192.0.0.171/32",
       "192.0.2.0/24", "192.31.196.0/24", "192.52.193.0/24", "192.88.99.0/24", "224.0.0.0/4", "192.168.0.0/16",
       "100.64.0.0/10", "192.175.48.0/24","198.18.0.0/15", "198.51.100.0/24", "203.0.113.0/24", "240.0.0.0/4", "::1",
       "FE80::/10", "FF00::/8")) or
   (event.category == "process" and event.action == "start" and process.parent.name : "explorer.exe" and
    process.parent.name in~ ("wscript.exe", "mshta.exe") and process.parent.entity_id == event0.process.entity_id)
  ]

Indicators

These rows show field, operator, and value matches.

FieldKindValuesSearch
event.actioneq
  • start corpus 391 (elastic 391)
field:"EventType" kind:eq value:"start"
event.actionin
  • connection_attempted corpus 73 (elastic 73)
  • disconnect_received corpus 2 (elastic 2)
field:"EventType" kind:in
event.categoryeq
  • network corpus 19 (elastic 19)
  • process corpus 142 (elastic 142)
field:"event.category" kind:eq
process.argswildcard
  • ?:\Users\*\Desktop\*
  • ?:\Users\*\Documents\*
  • ?:\Users\*\Downloads\* corpus 2 (elastic 2)
field:"process.args" kind:wildcard
process.entity_ideq
  • event0.process.entity_id (field reference) corpus 4 (elastic 4)
field:"process_guid" kind:eq value:"event0.process.entity_id"
process.namein
  • hh.exe corpus 8 (elastic 5, splunk 3)
  • mmc.exe corpus 12 (elastic 7, splunk 5)
  • mshta.exe corpus 84 (elastic 79, splunk 5)
  • wscript.exe corpus 83 (elastic 82, splunk 1)
field:"process_name" kind:in
process.parent.entity_ideq
  • event0.process.entity_id (field reference) corpus 2 (elastic 2)
field:"parent_process_guid" kind:eq value:"event0.process.entity_id"
process.parent.namein
  • mshta.exe corpus 24 (elastic 22, splunk 2)
  • wscript.exe corpus 24 (elastic 23, splunk 1)
field:"parent_process_name" kind:in
process.parent.namewildcard
  • explorer.exe corpus 51 (elastic 50, splunk 1)
field:"parent_process_name" kind:wildcard value:"explorer.exe"