Detection rules › Elastic

Inhibit System Recovery via Microsoft Office Process

Source
github.com/elastic/protections-artifacts

Identifies the use of Windows commands to tamper with system recovery settings via Microsoft Office processes. Ransomware and other malware may do this to prevent system recovery.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Rule body

[rule]
description = """
Identifies the use of Windows commands to tamper with system recovery settings via Microsoft Office processes.
Ransomware and other malware may do this to prevent system recovery.
"""
id = "58a08390-e69d-4b32-9487-1d1ddb16ba09"
license = "Elastic License v2"
name = "Inhibit System Recovery via Microsoft Office Process"
os_list = ["windows"]
version = "1.0.31"

query = '''
process where event.action == "start" and
  descendant of [process where event.action == "start" and
    process.name : (
      "WINWORD.EXE",
      "EXCEL.EXE",
      "POWERPNT.EXE",
      "MSACCESS.EXE",
      "MSPUB.EXE",
      "fltldr.exe"
    )] and
  not descendant of [process where event.action == "start" and
    process.name : (
      "iexplore.exe",
      "msedge.exe",
      "microsoftedge.exe",
      "chrome.exe",
      "firefox.exe",
      "opera.exe",
      "safari.exe"
    )] and
    (
    (process.pe.original_file_name : "wmic.exe" and process.command_line : "*shadowcopy*" and process.command_line : "*delete*") or
    (process.pe.original_file_name : "vssadmin.exe" and process.command_line : "*shadows*" and process.command_line : ("*delete*", "*resize*")) or
    (process.pe.original_file_name : "bcdedit.exe" and process.command_line : ("*bootstatuspolicy*", "*recoveryenabled*")) or
    (process.pe.original_file_name : "wbadmin.exe" and process.command_line : ("*catalog*", "*systemstatebackup*") and process.command_line : "*delete*")
    )
'''

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 = "T1566"
name = "Phishing"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1566/"
[[threat.technique.subtechnique]]
id = "T1566.001"
name = "Spearphishing Attachment"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1566/001/"



[threat.tactic]
id = "TA0001"
name = "Initial Access"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0001/"
[[threat]]
framework = "MITRE ATT&CK"
[[threat.technique]]
id = "T1047"
name = "Windows Management Instrumentation"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1047/"


[threat.tactic]
id = "TA0002"
name = "Execution"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0002/"
[[threat]]
framework = "MITRE ATT&CK"
[[threat.technique]]
id = "T1490"
name = "Inhibit System Recovery"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1490/"


[threat.tactic]
id = "TA0040"
name = "Impact"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0040/"

[internal]
min_endpoint_version = "7.15.0"

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: process

process where event.action == "start" and
  descendant of [process where event.action == "start" and
    process.name : (
      "WINWORD.EXE",
      "EXCEL.EXE",
      "POWERPNT.EXE",
      "MSACCESS.EXE",
      "MSPUB.EXE",
      "fltldr.exe"
    )] and
  not descendant of [process where event.action == "start" and
    process.name : (
      "iexplore.exe",
      "msedge.exe",
      "microsoftedge.exe",
      "chrome.exe",
      "firefox.exe",
      "opera.exe",
      "safari.exe"
    )] and
    (
    (process.pe.original_file_name : "wmic.exe" and process.command_line : "*shadowcopy*" and process.command_line : "*delete*") or
    (process.pe.original_file_name : "vssadmin.exe" and process.command_line : "*shadows*" and process.command_line : ("*delete*", "*resize*")) or
    (process.pe.original_file_name : "bcdedit.exe" and process.command_line : ("*bootstatuspolicy*", "*recoveryenabled*")) or
    (process.pe.original_file_name : "wbadmin.exe" and process.command_line : ("*catalog*", "*systemstatebackup*") and process.command_line : "*delete*")
    )

Indicators

These rows show field, operator, and value matches.

FieldKindValuesSearch
event.actioneq
  • start corpus 391 (elastic 391)
field:"EventType" kind:eq value:"start"
process.command_linewildcard
  • *bootstatuspolicy* corpus 10 (elastic 8, sigma 1, splunk 1)
  • *catalog* corpus 12 (elastic 8, sigma 3, splunk 1)
  • *delete* corpus 31 (sigma 16, elastic 8, splunk 6, kusto 1)
  • *recoveryenabled* corpus 10 (elastic 8, sigma 1, splunk 1)
  • *resize* corpus 9 (elastic 5, sigma 3, splunk 1)
  • *shadowcopy* corpus 13 (elastic 7, sigma 3, splunk 3)
  • *shadows* corpus 11 (elastic 8, sigma 3)
  • *systemstatebackup* corpus 8 (elastic 8)
field:"CommandLine" kind:wildcard
process.pe.original_file_namewildcard
  • bcdedit.exe corpus 13 (elastic 11, sigma 2)
  • vssadmin.exe corpus 12 (elastic 9, sigma 3)
  • wbadmin.exe corpus 19 (elastic 11, sigma 6, splunk 2)
  • wmic.exe corpus 80 (sigma 38, elastic 24, splunk 18)
field:"OriginalFileName" kind:wildcard