Detection rules › Sigma

WinSxS Executable File Creation By Non-System Process

Status
test
Severity
medium
Log source
category file_event, product windows
Author
Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
Source
github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma

Detects the creation of binaries in the WinSxS folder by non-system processes

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

TacticTechniques
ExecutionNo specific technique

Telemetry coverage

ProviderRecord / event type
SysmonEvent ID 11: FileCreate

Rule body

title: WinSxS Executable File Creation By Non-System Process
id: 34746e8c-5fb8-415a-b135-0abc167e912a
related:
    - id: 64827580-e4c3-4c64-97eb-c72325d45399
      type: derived
status: test
description: Detects the creation of binaries in the WinSxS folder by non-system processes
references:
    - https://media.defense.gov/2023/May/09/2003218554/-1/-1/0/JOINT_CSA_HUNTING_RU_INTEL_SNAKE_MALWARE_20230509.PDF
author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
date: 2023-05-11
tags:
    - attack.execution
logsource:
    category: file_event
    product: windows
detection:
    selection:
        TargetFilename|startswith: 'C:\Windows\WinSxS\'
        TargetFilename|endswith: '.exe'
    filter_main_system_location:
        Image|startswith:
            - 'C:\Windows\Systems32\'
            - 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\'
            - 'C:\Windows\WinSxS\'
    condition: selection and not 1 of filter_main_*
falsepositives:
    - Unknown
level: medium

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: condition

selection and not 1 of filter_main_*

Stage 1: selection

selection:
    TargetFilename|startswith: 'C:\Windows\WinSxS\'
    TargetFilename|endswith: '.exe'

Stage 2: not filter_main_system_location

filter_main_system_location:
    Image|startswith:
        - 'C:\Windows\Systems32\'
        - 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\'
        - 'C:\Windows\WinSxS\'

Exclusions

The rule actively suppresses these predicates.

FieldKindExcluded valuesSearch
Imagestarts_withC:\Windows\SysWOW64\excludes:Image field:"Image" value:"C:\Windows\SysWOW64\"
Imagestarts_withC:\Windows\Systems32\excludes:Image field:"Image" value:"C:\Windows\Systems32\"
Imagestarts_withC:\Windows\WinSxS\excludes:Image field:"Image" value:"C:\Windows\WinSxS\"

Indicators

These rows show field, operator, and value matches.

FieldKindValuesSearch
TargetFilenameends_with
  • .exe corpus 21 (sigma 20, splunk 1)
field:"TargetFilename" kind:ends_with value:".exe"
TargetFilenamestarts_with
  • C:\Windows\WinSxS\ corpus 2 (sigma 2)
field:"TargetFilename" kind:starts_with value:"C:\Windows\WinSxS\"