Detection rules › Sigma
Persistence Via Sticky Key Backdoor
By replacing the sticky keys executable with the local admins CMD executable, an attacker is able to access a privileged windows console session without authenticating to the system. When the sticky keys are "activated" the privilleged shell is launched.
Known false positives
- Unlikely
MITRE ATT&CK coverage
| Tactic | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Persistence | |
| Privilege Escalation |
Telemetry coverage
| Provider | Record / event type |
|---|---|
| Sysmon | Event ID 1: Process creation |
| Security-Auditing | Event ID 4688: A new process has been created. |
Rule body
title: Persistence Via Sticky Key Backdoor
id: 1070db9a-3e5d-412e-8e7b-7183b616e1b3
status: test
description: |
By replacing the sticky keys executable with the local admins CMD executable, an attacker is able to access a privileged windows console session without authenticating to the system.
When the sticky keys are "activated" the privilleged shell is launched.
references:
- https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research/2017/03/apt29_domain_frontin.html
- https://www.clearskysec.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ClearSky-Fox-Kitten-Campaign-v1.pdf
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/archive/blogs/jonathantrull/detecting-sticky-key-backdoors
author: Sreeman
date: 2020-02-18
modified: 2023-03-07
tags:
- attack.persistence
- attack.t1546.008
- attack.privilege-escalation
logsource:
product: windows
category: process_creation
detection:
selection:
CommandLine|contains|all:
- 'copy '
- '/y '
- 'C:\windows\system32\cmd.exe C:\windows\system32\sethc.exe'
condition: selection
falsepositives:
- Unlikely
level: critical
Stages and Predicates
Stage 0: condition
selectionStage 1: selection
selection:
CommandLine|contains|all:
- 'copy '
- '/y '
- 'C:\windows\system32\cmd.exe C:\windows\system32\sethc.exe'
Indicators
These rows show field, operator, and value matches.
| Field | Kind | Values | Search |
|---|---|---|---|
CommandLine | match |
| field:"CommandLine" kind:match |