Detection rules › Sigma

Suspicious Microsoft OneNote Child Process

Status
test
Severity
high
Log source
category process_creation, product windows
Author
Tim Rauch (Nextron Systems), Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems), Elastic (idea)
Source
github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma

Detects suspicious child processes of the Microsoft OneNote application. This may indicate an attempt to execute malicious embedded objects from a .one file.

Known false positives

  • File located in the AppData folder with trusted signature

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

TacticTechniques
Initial Access

Telemetry coverage

ProviderRecord / event type
SysmonEvent ID 1: Process creation

Rule body

title: Suspicious Microsoft OneNote Child Process
id: c27515df-97a9-4162-8a60-dc0eeb51b775
related:
    - id: 438025f9-5856-4663-83f7-52f878a70a50 # Generic rule for suspicious office application child processes
      type: derived
status: test
description: Detects suspicious child processes of the Microsoft OneNote application. This may indicate an attempt to execute malicious embedded objects from a .one file.
references:
    - https://github.com/elastic/protections-artifacts/commit/746086721fd385d9f5c6647cada1788db4aea95f#diff-e34e43eb5666427602ddf488b2bf3b545bd9aae81af3e6f6c7949f9652abdf18
    - https://micahbabinski.medium.com/detecting-onenote-one-malware-delivery-407e9321ecf0
author: Tim Rauch (Nextron Systems), Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems), Elastic (idea)
date: 2022-10-21
modified: 2023-02-10
tags:
    - attack.t1566
    - attack.t1566.001
    - attack.initial-access
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection_parent:
        ParentImage|endswith: '\onenote.exe'
    selection_opt_img:
        - OriginalFileName:
              - 'bitsadmin.exe'
              - 'CertOC.exe'
              - 'CertUtil.exe'
              - 'Cmd.Exe'
              - 'CMSTP.EXE'
              - 'cscript.exe'
              - 'curl.exe'
              - 'HH.exe'
              - 'IEExec.exe'
              - 'InstallUtil.exe'
              - 'javaw.exe'
              - 'Microsoft.Workflow.Compiler.exe'
              - 'msdt.exe'
              - 'MSHTA.EXE'
              - 'msiexec.exe'
              - 'Msxsl.exe'
              - 'odbcconf.exe'
              - 'pcalua.exe'
              - 'PowerShell.EXE'
              - 'RegAsm.exe'
              - 'RegSvcs.exe'
              - 'REGSVR32.exe'
              - 'RUNDLL32.exe'
              - 'schtasks.exe'
              - 'ScriptRunner.exe'
              - 'wmic.exe'
              - 'WorkFolders.exe'
              - 'wscript.exe'
        - Image|endswith:
              - '\AppVLP.exe'
              - '\bash.exe'
              - '\bitsadmin.exe'
              - '\certoc.exe'
              - '\certutil.exe'
              - '\cmd.exe'
              - '\cmstp.exe'
              - '\control.exe'
              - '\cscript.exe'
              - '\curl.exe'
              - '\forfiles.exe'
              - '\hh.exe'
              - '\ieexec.exe'
              - '\installutil.exe'
              - '\javaw.exe'
              - '\mftrace.exe'
              - '\Microsoft.Workflow.Compiler.exe'
              - '\msbuild.exe'
              - '\msdt.exe'
              - '\mshta.exe'
              - '\msidb.exe'
              - '\msiexec.exe'
              - '\msxsl.exe'
              - '\odbcconf.exe'
              - '\pcalua.exe'
              - '\powershell.exe'
              - '\pwsh.exe'
              - '\regasm.exe'
              - '\regsvcs.exe'
              - '\regsvr32.exe'
              - '\rundll32.exe'
              - '\schtasks.exe'
              - '\scrcons.exe'
              - '\scriptrunner.exe'
              - '\sh.exe'
              - '\svchost.exe'
              - '\verclsid.exe'
              - '\wmic.exe'
              - '\workfolders.exe'
              - '\wscript.exe'
    selection_opt_explorer:
        Image|endswith: '\explorer.exe'
        CommandLine|contains:
            - '.hta'
            - '.vb'
            - '.wsh'
            - '.js'
            - '.ps'
            - '.scr'
            - '.pif'
            - '.bat'
            - '.cmd'
    selection_opt_paths:
        Image|contains:
            - '\AppData\'
            - '\Users\Public\'
            - '\ProgramData\'
            - '\Windows\Tasks\'
            - '\Windows\Temp\'
            - '\Windows\System32\Tasks\'
    filter_teams:
        Image|endswith: '\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Teams\current\Teams.exe'
        CommandLine|endswith: '-Embedding'
    filter_onedrive:
        Image|contains: '\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneDrive\'
        Image|endswith: '\FileCoAuth.exe'
        CommandLine|endswith: '-Embedding'
    condition: selection_parent and 1 of selection_opt_* and not 1 of filter_*
falsepositives:
    - File located in the AppData folder with trusted signature
level: high

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: condition

selection_parent and 1 of selection_opt_* and not 1 of filter_*

Stage 1: selection_parent

selection_parent:
    ParentImage|endswith: '\onenote.exe'

Stage 2: selection_opt_img

selection_opt_img:
    - OriginalFileName:
          - 'bitsadmin.exe'
          - 'CertOC.exe'
          - 'CertUtil.exe'
          - 'Cmd.Exe'
          - 'CMSTP.EXE'
          - 'cscript.exe'
          - 'curl.exe'
          - 'HH.exe'
          - 'IEExec.exe'
          - 'InstallUtil.exe'
          - 'javaw.exe'
          - 'Microsoft.Workflow.Compiler.exe'
          - 'msdt.exe'
          - 'MSHTA.EXE'
          - 'msiexec.exe'
          - 'Msxsl.exe'
          - 'odbcconf.exe'
          - 'pcalua.exe'
          - 'PowerShell.EXE'
          - 'RegAsm.exe'
          - 'RegSvcs.exe'
          - 'REGSVR32.exe'
          - 'RUNDLL32.exe'
          - 'schtasks.exe'
          - 'ScriptRunner.exe'
          - 'wmic.exe'
          - 'WorkFolders.exe'
          - 'wscript.exe'
    - Image|endswith:
          - '\AppVLP.exe'
          - '\bash.exe'
          - '\bitsadmin.exe'
          - '\certoc.exe'
          - '\certutil.exe'
          - '\cmd.exe'
          - '\cmstp.exe'
          - '\control.exe'
          - '\cscript.exe'
          - '\curl.exe'
          - '\forfiles.exe'
          - '\hh.exe'
          - '\ieexec.exe'
          - '\installutil.exe'
          - '\javaw.exe'
          - '\mftrace.exe'
          - '\Microsoft.Workflow.Compiler.exe'
          - '\msbuild.exe'
          - '\msdt.exe'
          - '\mshta.exe'
          - '\msidb.exe'
          - '\msiexec.exe'
          - '\msxsl.exe'
          - '\odbcconf.exe'
          - '\pcalua.exe'
          - '\powershell.exe'
          - '\pwsh.exe'
          - '\regasm.exe'
          - '\regsvcs.exe'
          - '\regsvr32.exe'
          - '\rundll32.exe'
          - '\schtasks.exe'
          - '\scrcons.exe'
          - '\scriptrunner.exe'
          - '\sh.exe'
          - '\svchost.exe'
          - '\verclsid.exe'
          - '\wmic.exe'
          - '\workfolders.exe'
          - '\wscript.exe'

Stage 3: selection_opt_explorer

selection_opt_explorer:
    Image|endswith: '\explorer.exe'
    CommandLine|contains:
        - '.hta'
        - '.vb'
        - '.wsh'
        - '.js'
        - '.ps'
        - '.scr'
        - '.pif'
        - '.bat'
        - '.cmd'

Stage 4: selection_opt_paths

selection_opt_paths:
    Image|contains:
        - '\AppData\'
        - '\Users\Public\'
        - '\ProgramData\'
        - '\Windows\Tasks\'
        - '\Windows\Temp\'
        - '\Windows\System32\Tasks\'

Stage 5: not filter_*

filter_teams:
    Image|endswith: '\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Teams\current\Teams.exe'
    CommandLine|endswith: '-Embedding'
filter_onedrive:
    Image|contains: '\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneDrive\'
    Image|endswith: '\FileCoAuth.exe'
    CommandLine|endswith: '-Embedding'

Exclusions

The rule actively suppresses these predicates.

FieldKindExcluded valuesSearch
CommandLineends_with-Embeddingexcludes:CommandLine field:"CommandLine" value:"-Embedding"
Imageends_with\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Teams\current\Teams.exeexcludes:Image field:"Image" value:"\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Teams\current\Teams.exe"
Imageends_with\FileCoAuth.exeexcludes:Image field:"Image" value:"\FileCoAuth.exe"
Imagematch\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneDrive\excludes:Image field:"Image" value:"\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneDrive\"

Indicators

These rows show field, operator, and value matches.

FieldKindValuesSearch
CommandLinematch
  • .bat corpus 11 (sigma 9, elastic 1, kusto 1)
  • .cmd corpus 6 (sigma 5, elastic 1)
  • .hta corpus 6 (sigma 6)
  • .js corpus 9 (sigma 9)
  • .pif
  • .ps corpus 3 (sigma 3)
  • .scr corpus 5 (sigma 5)
  • .vb corpus 3 (sigma 3)
  • .wsh corpus 4 (sigma 4)
field:"CommandLine" kind:match
Imageends_with
  • \AppVLP.exe corpus 6 (sigma 6)
  • \Microsoft.Workflow.Compiler.exe corpus 3 (sigma 3)
  • \bash.exe corpus 21 (sigma 21)
  • \bitsadmin.exe corpus 29 (sigma 29)
  • \certoc.exe corpus 10 (sigma 10)
  • \certutil.exe corpus 44 (sigma 43, kusto 1)
  • \cmd.exe corpus 130 (sigma 130)
  • \cmstp.exe corpus 8 (sigma 8)
  • \control.exe corpus 5 (sigma 5)
  • \cscript.exe corpus 72 (sigma 72)
  • \curl.exe corpus 31 (sigma 31)
  • \explorer.exe corpus 13 (sigma 13)
  • \forfiles.exe corpus 11 (sigma 11)
  • \hh.exe corpus 15 (sigma 15)
  • \ieexec.exe corpus 3 (sigma 3)
  • \installutil.exe corpus 8 (sigma 8)
  • \javaw.exe corpus 2 (sigma 2)
  • \mftrace.exe corpus 6 (sigma 6)
  • \msbuild.exe corpus 9 (sigma 9)
  • \msdt.exe corpus 9 (sigma 9)
  • \mshta.exe corpus 66 (sigma 66)
  • \msidb.exe corpus 2 (sigma 2)
  • \msiexec.exe corpus 20 (sigma 20)
  • \msxsl.exe corpus 6 (sigma 6)
  • \odbcconf.exe corpus 11 (sigma 11)
  • \pcalua.exe corpus 3 (sigma 3)
  • \powershell.exe corpus 179 (sigma 178, kusto 1)
  • \pwsh.exe corpus 165 (sigma 164, kusto 1)
  • \regasm.exe corpus 9 (sigma 9)
  • \regsvcs.exe corpus 8 (sigma 8)
  • \regsvr32.exe corpus 64 (sigma 64)
  • \rundll32.exe corpus 94 (sigma 94)
  • \schtasks.exe corpus 55 (sigma 55)
  • \scrcons.exe corpus 9 (sigma 9)
  • \scriptrunner.exe corpus 12 (sigma 12)
  • \sh.exe corpus 16 (sigma 16)
  • \svchost.exe corpus 23 (sigma 22, kusto 1)
  • \verclsid.exe corpus 4 (sigma 4)
  • \wmic.exe corpus 62 (sigma 62)
  • \workfolders.exe corpus 2 (sigma 2)
  • \wscript.exe corpus 74 (sigma 74)
field:"Image" kind:ends_with
Imagematch
  • \AppData\ corpus 6 (sigma 6)
  • \ProgramData\ corpus 2 (sigma 2)
  • \Users\Public\ corpus 9 (sigma 9)
  • \Windows\System32\Tasks\ corpus 3 (sigma 3)
  • \Windows\Tasks\ corpus 3 (sigma 3)
  • \Windows\Temp\ corpus 7 (sigma 7)
field:"Image" kind:match
OriginalFileNameeq
  • CMSTP.EXE corpus 11 (elastic 6, sigma 5)
  • CertOC.exe corpus 9 (sigma 6, elastic 3)
  • CertUtil.exe corpus 30 (sigma 14, elastic 10, splunk 6)
  • Cmd.Exe corpus 81 (sigma 43, elastic 21, splunk 17)
  • HH.exe corpus 11 (sigma 5, splunk 4, elastic 2)
  • IEExec.exe corpus 5 (sigma 3, elastic 2)
  • InstallUtil.exe corpus 21 (elastic 11, sigma 6, splunk 4)
  • MSHTA.EXE corpus 40 (elastic 21, sigma 13, splunk 6)
  • Microsoft.Workflow.Compiler.exe corpus 12 (elastic 7, sigma 3, splunk 2)
  • Msxsl.exe corpus 11 (elastic 8, sigma 3)
  • PowerShell.EXE corpus 138 (sigma 84, splunk 30, elastic 24)
  • REGSVR32.exe corpus 37 (sigma 17, elastic 15, splunk 5)
  • RUNDLL32.exe corpus 78 (sigma 35, elastic 22, splunk 21)
  • RegAsm.exe corpus 14 (elastic 7, sigma 6, splunk 1)
  • RegSvcs.exe corpus 13 (elastic 7, sigma 5, splunk 1)
  • ScriptRunner.exe corpus 6 (sigma 3, elastic 3)
  • WorkFolders.exe corpus 4 (sigma 2, elastic 2)
  • bitsadmin.exe corpus 20 (sigma 9, elastic 8, splunk 2, kusto 1)
  • cscript.exe corpus 32 (sigma 17, elastic 15)
  • curl.exe corpus 24 (sigma 13, elastic 8, splunk 3)
  • javaw.exe corpus 7 (elastic 5, sigma 2)
  • msdt.exe corpus 10 (sigma 6, elastic 4)
  • msiexec.exe corpus 20 (elastic 11, sigma 5, splunk 4)
  • odbcconf.exe corpus 12 (sigma 9, elastic 3)
  • pcalua.exe corpus 4 (sigma 2, elastic 2)
  • schtasks.exe corpus 31 (sigma 18, elastic 9, splunk 4)
  • wmic.exe corpus 80 (sigma 38, elastic 24, splunk 18)
  • wscript.exe corpus 38 (elastic 21, sigma 17)
field:"OriginalFileName" kind:eq
ParentImageends_with
  • \onenote.exe corpus 5 (sigma 5)
field:"ParentImage" kind:ends_with value:"\onenote.exe"