Detection rules › Sigma

Remote XSL Execution Via Msxsl.EXE

Status
test
Severity
high
Log source
product windows, category process_creation
Author
Swachchhanda Shrawan Poudel
Source
github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma

Detects the execution of the "msxsl" binary with an "http" keyword in the command line. This might indicate a potential remote execution of XSL files.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

TacticTechniques
StealthT1220 XSL Script Processing

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

title: Remote XSL Execution Via Msxsl.EXE
id: 75d0a94e-6252-448d-a7be-d953dff527bb
status: test
description: Detects the execution of the "msxsl" binary with an "http" keyword in the command line. This might indicate a potential remote execution of XSL files.
references:
    - https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/f339e7da7d05f6057fdfcdd3742bfcf365fee2a9/atomics/T1220/T1220.md
    - https://lolbas-project.github.io/lolbas/OtherMSBinaries/Msxsl/
author: Swachchhanda Shrawan Poudel
date: 2023-11-09
tags:
    - attack.stealth
    - attack.t1220
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection:
        Image|endswith: '\msxsl.exe'
        CommandLine|contains: 'http'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Msxsl is not installed by default and is deprecated, so unlikely on most systems.
level: high

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: condition

selection

Stage 1: selection

selection:
    Image|endswith: '\msxsl.exe'
    CommandLine|contains: 'http'

Indicators

Each row is a field, operator, and value that the rule matches. The corpus column counts how many other rules in the catalog look for the same combination: high numbers point to widely-used, community-vetted indicators. Blank or 1 shows that the indicator is specific to this rule.

FieldKindValues
CommandLinematch
  • http corpus 39 (sigma 34, elastic 2, chronicle 2, splunk 1)
Imageends_with
  • \msxsl.exe corpus 6 (sigma 6)