Potential Defense Evasion Via Raw Disk Access By Uncommon Tools

title: Potential Defense Evasion Via Raw Disk Access By Uncommon Tools
id: db809f10-56ce-4420-8c86-d6a7d793c79c
status: test
description: Detects raw disk access using uncommon tools or tools that are located in suspicious locations (heavy filtering is required), which could indicate possible defense evasion attempts
references:
    - https://www.slideshare.net/heirhabarov/hunting-for-credentials-dumping-in-windows-environment
author: Teymur Kheirkhabarov, oscd.community
date: 2019-10-22
modified: 2025-12-03
tags:
    - attack.stealth
    - attack.t1006
logsource:
    product: windows
    category: raw_access_thread
detection:
    filter_main_floppy:
        Device|contains: floppy
    filter_main_generic:
        Image|startswith:
            - 'C:\$WINDOWS.~BT\'
            - 'C:\Program Files (x86)\'
            - 'C:\Program Files\'
            - 'C:\Windows\CCM\'
            - 'C:\Windows\explorer.exe'
            - 'C:\Windows\servicing\'
            - 'C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\'
            - 'C:\Windows\System32\'
            - 'C:\Windows\SystemApps\'
            - 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\'
            - 'C:\Windows\uus\'
            - 'C:\Windows\WinSxS\'
    filter_main_system_images:
        Image:
            - 'Registry'
            - 'System'
    filter_main_windefender:
        Image|startswith: 'C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Platform\'
        Image|endswith:
            - '\MsMpEng.exe'
            - '\MpDefenderCoreService.exe'
    filter_main_microsoft_appdata:
        Image|startswith: 'C:\Users\'
        Image|contains|all:
            - '\AppData\'
            - '\Microsoft\'
    filter_main_ssd_nvme:
        Image|startswith: 'C:\Windows\Temp\'
        Image|endswith:
            - '\Executables\SSDUpdate.exe'
            - '\HostMetadata\NVMEHostmetadata.exe'
    filter_main_null:
        Image: null
    filter_main_systemsettings:
        Image: 'C:\Windows\ImmersiveControlPanel\SystemSettings.exe'
    filter_main_update:
        Image|startswith: 'C:\$WinREAgent\Scratch\'
    filter_optional_github_desktop:
        Image|startswith: 'C:\Users\'
        Image|contains: '\AppData\Local\GitHubDesktop\app-'
        Image|endswith: '\resources\app\git\mingw64\bin\git.exe'
    filter_optional_nextron:
        Image|startswith: 'C:\Windows\Temp\asgard2-agent\'
        Image|endswith: '\thor.exe'
    filter_optional_Keybase:
        Image|startswith: 'C:\Users\'
        Image|contains: '\AppData\Local\Keybase\upd.exe'
    condition: not 1 of filter_main_* and not 1 of filter_optional_*
falsepositives:
    - Likely
level: low