Detection rules › Sigma

Suspicious Obfuscated PowerShell Code

Status
test
Severity
high
Log source
product windows, category process_creation
Author
Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)
Source
github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma

Detects suspicious UTF16 and base64 encoded and often obfuscated PowerShell code often used in command lines

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

TacticTechniques
StealthNo specific technique

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

title: Suspicious Obfuscated PowerShell Code
id: 8d01b53f-456f-48ee-90f6-bc28e67d4e35
status: test
description: Detects suspicious UTF16 and base64 encoded and often obfuscated PowerShell code often used in command lines
references:
    - https://app.any.run/tasks/fcadca91-3580-4ede-aff4-4d2bf809bf99/
author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)
date: 2022-07-11
modified: 2023-02-14
tags:
    - attack.stealth
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection:
        CommandLine|contains:
            #  -bxor 0x
            - 'IAAtAGIAeABvAHIAIAAwAHgA'
            - 'AALQBiAHgAbwByACAAMAB4A'
            - 'gAC0AYgB4AG8AcgAgADAAeA'
            # .Invoke() |
            - 'AC4ASQBuAHYAbwBrAGUAKAApACAAfAAg'
            - 'AuAEkAbgB2AG8AawBlACgAKQAgAHwAI'
            - 'ALgBJAG4AdgBvAGsAZQAoACkAIAB8AC'
            # {1}{0}" -f
            # {0}{3}" -f
            # {2}{0}" -f
            - 'AHsAMQB9AHsAMAB9ACIAIAAtAGYAI'
            - 'B7ADEAfQB7ADAAfQAiACAALQBmAC'
            - 'AewAxAH0AewAwAH0AIgAgAC0AZgAg'
            - 'AHsAMAB9AHsAMwB9ACIAIAAtAGYAI'
            - 'B7ADAAfQB7ADMAfQAiACAALQBmAC'
            - 'AewAwAH0AewAzAH0AIgAgAC0AZgAg'
            - 'AHsAMgB9AHsAMAB9ACIAIAAtAGYAI'
            - 'B7ADIAfQB7ADAAfQAiACAALQBmAC'
            - 'AewAyAH0AewAwAH0AIgAgAC0AZgAg'
            # {1}{0}' -f
            # {0}{3}' -f
            # {2}{0}' -f
            - 'AHsAMQB9AHsAMAB9ACcAIAAtAGYAI'
            - 'B7ADEAfQB7ADAAfQAnACAALQBmAC'
            - 'AewAxAH0AewAwAH0AJwAgAC0AZgAg'
            - 'AHsAMAB9AHsAMwB9ACcAIAAtAGYAI'
            - 'B7ADAAfQB7ADMAfQAnACAALQBmAC'
            - 'AewAwAH0AewAzAH0AJwAgAC0AZgAg'
            - 'AHsAMgB9AHsAMAB9ACcAIAAtAGYAI'
            - 'B7ADIAfQB7ADAAfQAnACAALQBmAC'
            - 'AewAyAH0AewAwAH0AJwAgAC0AZgAg'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Unknown
level: high

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: condition

selection

Stage 1: selection

selection:
    CommandLine|contains:
        - 'IAAtAGIAeABvAHIAIAAwAHgA'
        - 'AALQBiAHgAbwByACAAMAB4A'
        - 'gAC0AYgB4AG8AcgAgADAAeA'
        - 'AC4ASQBuAHYAbwBrAGUAKAApACAAfAAg'
        - 'AuAEkAbgB2AG8AawBlACgAKQAgAHwAI'
        - 'ALgBJAG4AdgBvAGsAZQAoACkAIAB8AC'
        - 'AHsAMQB9AHsAMAB9ACIAIAAtAGYAI'
        - 'B7ADEAfQB7ADAAfQAiACAALQBmAC'
        - 'AewAxAH0AewAwAH0AIgAgAC0AZgAg'
        - 'AHsAMAB9AHsAMwB9ACIAIAAtAGYAI'
        - 'B7ADAAfQB7ADMAfQAiACAALQBmAC'
        - 'AewAwAH0AewAzAH0AIgAgAC0AZgAg'
        - 'AHsAMgB9AHsAMAB9ACIAIAAtAGYAI'
        - 'B7ADIAfQB7ADAAfQAiACAALQBmAC'
        - 'AewAyAH0AewAwAH0AIgAgAC0AZgAg'
        - 'AHsAMQB9AHsAMAB9ACcAIAAtAGYAI'
        - 'B7ADEAfQB7ADAAfQAnACAALQBmAC'
        - 'AewAxAH0AewAwAH0AJwAgAC0AZgAg'
        - 'AHsAMAB9AHsAMwB9ACcAIAAtAGYAI'
        - 'B7ADAAfQB7ADMAfQAnACAALQBmAC'
        - 'AewAwAH0AewAzAH0AJwAgAC0AZgAg'
        - 'AHsAMgB9AHsAMAB9ACcAIAAtAGYAI'
        - 'B7ADIAfQB7ADAAfQAnACAALQBmAC'
        - 'AewAyAH0AewAwAH0AJwAgAC0AZgAg'

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
  • AALQBiAHgAbwByACAAMAB4A
  • AC4ASQBuAHYAbwBrAGUAKAApACAAfAAg
  • AHsAMAB9AHsAMwB9ACIAIAAtAGYAI
  • AHsAMAB9AHsAMwB9ACcAIAAtAGYAI
  • AHsAMQB9AHsAMAB9ACIAIAAtAGYAI
  • AHsAMQB9AHsAMAB9ACcAIAAtAGYAI
  • AHsAMgB9AHsAMAB9ACIAIAAtAGYAI
  • AHsAMgB9AHsAMAB9ACcAIAAtAGYAI
  • ALgBJAG4AdgBvAGsAZQAoACkAIAB8AC
  • AewAwAH0AewAzAH0AIgAgAC0AZgAg
  • AewAwAH0AewAzAH0AJwAgAC0AZgAg
  • AewAxAH0AewAwAH0AIgAgAC0AZgAg
  • AewAxAH0AewAwAH0AJwAgAC0AZgAg
  • AewAyAH0AewAwAH0AIgAgAC0AZgAg
  • AewAyAH0AewAwAH0AJwAgAC0AZgAg
  • AuAEkAbgB2AG8AawBlACgAKQAgAHwAI
  • B7ADAAfQB7ADMAfQAiACAALQBmAC
  • B7ADAAfQB7ADMAfQAnACAALQBmAC
  • B7ADEAfQB7ADAAfQAiACAALQBmAC
  • B7ADEAfQB7ADAAfQAnACAALQBmAC
  • B7ADIAfQB7ADAAfQAiACAALQBmAC
  • B7ADIAfQB7ADAAfQAnACAALQBmAC
  • IAAtAGIAeABvAHIAIAAwAHgA
  • gAC0AYgB4AG8AcgAgADAAeA