Stickey key called CMD via command execution

Status: experimental
Severity: high
Log source: category process_creation, product windows
Author: mdecrevoisier
Source: github.com/mdecrevoisier/SIGMA-detection-rules

Detects scenarios where an attacker calls the stickey key and execute CMD.

Known false positives

None

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Privilege Escalation	`T1546.008` Event Triggered Execution: Accessibility Features

Telemetry coverage

Provider	Record / event type
Sysmon	Event ID 1: Process creation
Security-Auditing	Event ID 4688: A new process has been created.

Rule body

title: Stickey key called CMD via command execution
description: Detects scenarios where an attacker calls the stickey key and execute CMD.
references:
- https://github.com/mdecrevoisier/EVTX-to-MITRE-Attack/tree/master/TA0004-Privilege%20Escalation/T1546-Image%20File%20Execution%20Options%20Injection
- https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/jonathantrull/2016/10/03/detecting-sticky-key-backdoors/
- https://www.mandiant.com/resources/apt29-domain-frontin
- https://www.clearskysec.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ClearSky-Fox-Kitten-Campaign-v1.pdf
- https://blog.talosintelligence.com/2022/08/recent-cyber-attack.html?m=1
tags:
- attack.privilege_escalation
- attack.t1546.008
author: mdecrevoisier
status: experimental
logsource:
  product: windows
  category: process_creation
detection:
  selection_process:
    EventID: 4688
    Version: 2  # parent process name is available starting Windows 10 / Server 2016 and higher
    ParentProcessName|endswith: \winlogon.exe

  selection_sysmon:
    EventID: 1
    ParentImage|endswith: \winlogon.exe

  selection_command_line:
    CommandLine|contains: cmd
    CommandLine|contains:
      - sethc.exe
      - utilman.exe
      - osk.exe
      - Magnify.exe
      - Narrator.exe
      - DisplaySwitch.exe
  condition: (selection_process or selection_sysmon) and selection_command_line
falsepositives:
- None
level: high

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

(selection_process or selection_sysmon) and selection_command_line

Stage 1: `selection_process`

selection_process:
  EventID: 4688
  Version: 2
  ParentProcessName|endswith: \winlogon.exe

Stage 2: `selection_sysmon`

selection_sysmon:
  EventID: 1
  ParentImage|endswith: \winlogon.exe

Stage 3: `selection_command_line`

selection_command_line:
  CommandLine|contains: cmd
  CommandLine|contains:
    - sethc.exe
    - utilman.exe
    - osk.exe
    - Magnify.exe
    - Narrator.exe
    - DisplaySwitch.exe

Indicators

These rows show field, operator, and value matches.

Field	Kind	Values	Search
`CommandLine`	match	`DisplaySwitch.exe` corpus 3 (sigma 3) `Magnify.exe` corpus 3 (sigma 3) `Narrator.exe` corpus 3 (sigma 3) `osk.exe` corpus 3 (sigma 3) `sethc.exe` corpus 4 (sigma 4) `utilman.exe` corpus 3 (sigma 3)	`field:"CommandLine" kind:match`
`ParentImage`	ends_with	`\winlogon.exe` corpus 5 (sigma 5)	`field:"ParentImage" kind:ends_with value:"\winlogon.exe"`
`ParentProcessName`	ends_with	`\winlogon.exe`	`field:"parent_process_name" kind:ends_with value:"\winlogon.exe"`
`Version`	eq	`2` corpus 7 (sigma 7)	`field:"Version" kind:eq value:"2"`

Stickey key called CMD via command execution

Known false positives

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Telemetry coverage

Rule body

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: condition

Stage 1: selection_process

Stage 2: selection_sysmon

Stage 3: selection_command_line

Indicators

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection_process`

Stage 2: `selection_sysmon`

Stage 3: `selection_command_line`