Xwizard.EXE Execution From Non-Default Location

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

Detects the execution of Xwizard tool from a non-default directory. When executed from a non-default directory, this utility can be abused in order to side load a custom version of "xwizards.dll".

Known false positives

Windows installed on non-C drive

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Execution	`T1574.001` Hijack Execution Flow: DLL
Stealth	`T1574.001` Hijack Execution Flow: DLL

Telemetry coverage

Provider	Record / event type
Sysmon	Event ID 1: Process creation

Rule body

title: Xwizard.EXE Execution From Non-Default Location
id: 193d5ccd-6f59-40c6-b5b0-8e32d5ddd3d1
status: test
description: |
    Detects the execution of Xwizard tool from a non-default directory.
    When executed from a non-default directory, this utility can be abused in order to side load a custom version of "xwizards.dll".
references:
    - https://lolbas-project.github.io/lolbas/Binaries/Xwizard/
    - http://www.hexacorn.com/blog/2017/07/31/the-wizard-of-x-oppa-plugx-style/
author: Christian Burkard (Nextron Systems)
date: 2021-09-20
modified: 2024-08-15
tags:
    - attack.privilege-escalation
    - attack.persistence
    - attack.execution
    - attack.stealth
    - attack.t1574.001
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection:
        - Image|endswith: '\xwizard.exe'
        - OriginalFileName: 'xwizard.exe'
    filter_main_legit_location:
        Image|startswith:
            - 'C:\Windows\System32\'
            - 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\'
            - 'C:\Windows\WinSxS\'
    condition: selection and not 1 of filter_main_*
falsepositives:
    - Windows installed on non-C drive
level: high

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

selection and not 1 of filter_main_*

Stage 1: `selection`

selection:
    - Image|endswith: '\xwizard.exe'
    - OriginalFileName: 'xwizard.exe'

Stage 2: `not filter_main_legit_location`

filter_main_legit_location:
    Image|startswith:
        - 'C:\Windows\System32\'
        - 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\'
        - 'C:\Windows\WinSxS\'

Exclusions

The rule actively suppresses these predicates.

Field	Kind	Excluded values	Search
`Image`	starts_with	`C:\Windows\SysWOW64\`	`excludes:Image` `field:"Image" value:"C:\Windows\SysWOW64\"`
`Image`	starts_with	`C:\Windows\System32\`	`excludes:Image` `field:"Image" value:"C:\Windows\System32\"`
`Image`	starts_with	`C:\Windows\WinSxS\`	`excludes:Image` `field:"Image" value:"C:\Windows\WinSxS\"`

Indicators

These rows show field, operator, and value matches.

Field	Kind	Values	Search
`Image`	ends_with	`\xwizard.exe`	`field:"Image" kind:ends_with value:"\xwizard.exe"`
`OriginalFileName`	eq	`xwizard.exe` corpus 4 (elastic 3, sigma 1)	`field:"OriginalFileName" kind:eq value:"xwizard.exe"`