Detection rules › Splunk
AutoHotkey Execution (PowerShell)
Adversaries may execute commands and perform malicious tasks using AutoIT and AutoHotKey automation scripts. AutoIT and AutoHotkey (AHK) are scripting languages that enable users to automate Windows tasks. These automation scripts can be used to perform a wide variety of actions, such as clicking on buttons, entering text, and opening and closing programs. This use case detects the usage of the AutoHotkey software to execute ahk files.
MITRE ATT&CK coverage
| Tactic | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Execution | T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter |
References
Event coverage
| Provider | Event | Title |
|---|---|---|
| PowerShell | Event ID 4103 | Payload Context: ContextInfo User Data: UserData. |
| PowerShell | Event ID 4104 | Creating Scriptblock text (MessageNumber of MessageTotal). |
Rule body yaml
id: '32156.57265'
title: AutoHotkey Execution
description: Adversaries may execute commands and perform malicious tasks using AutoIT
and AutoHotKey automation scripts. AutoIT and AutoHotkey (AHK) are scripting languages
that enable users to automate Windows tasks. These automation scripts can be used
to perform a wide variety of actions, such as clicking on buttons, entering text,
and opening and closing programs. This use case detects the usage of the AutoHotkey
software to execute ahk files.
logic_format: Splunk
logic: '`get_endpoint_data` `get_endpoint_data_powershell` ((TERM(EventCode=4103)
OR "<EventID>4103<") OR (TERM(EventCode=4104) OR "<EventID>4104<")) ("AutoHotkey.exe"
OR "AutoHotkey.rc" OR "AutoHotkey32.exe" OR "AutoHotkey32_UIA.exe" OR "AutoHotkey64.exe"
OR "AutoHotkey64_UIA.exe" OR "AutoHotkeyA32.exe" OR "AutoHotkeyA32_UIA.exe" OR "AutoHotkeyU32.exe"
OR "AutoHotkeyU32_UIA.exe" OR "AutoHotkeyU64.exe" OR "AutoHotkeyU64_UIA.exe" OR
"AutoHotkeyUX.exe") ".ahk" | table _time, host, user, process | bin span=1s | stats
values(*) as * by _time, host '
techniques:
- execution:command and scripting interpreter
technique_id:
- T1059
data_category:
- PowerShell logs
references:
- https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1059/010/
- https://detection.fyi/sigmahq/sigma/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_renamed_autohotkey/
- https://www.autohotkey.com/
Stages and Predicates
Stage 1: search
`get_endpoint_data` `get_endpoint_data_powershell` ((TERM(EventCode=4103) OR "<EventID>4103<") OR (TERM(EventCode=4104) OR "<EventID>4104<")) ("AutoHotkey.exe" OR "AutoHotkey.rc" OR "AutoHotkey32.exe" OR "AutoHotkey32_UIA.exe" OR "AutoHotkey64.exe" OR "AutoHotkey64_UIA.exe" OR "AutoHotkeyA32.exe" OR "AutoHotkeyA32_UIA.exe" OR "AutoHotkeyU32.exe" OR "AutoHotkeyU32_UIA.exe" OR "AutoHotkeyU64.exe" OR "AutoHotkeyU64_UIA.exe" OR "AutoHotkeyUX.exe") ".ahk"
Stage 2: table
| table _time, host, user, process
Stage 3: bucket
| bin span=1s
Stage 4: stats
| stats values(*) as * by _time, host
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.
| Field | Kind | Values |
|---|---|---|
EventCode | eq |
|
Search terms
Bare-string tokens in the SPL search body. Splunk matches each token against _raw (the untyped raw event text) anywhere it appears, not against a specific field. These don't surface in the Indicators table because they aren't predicates on a known field.
| Stage | Term |
|---|---|
| 1 | TERM |
| 1 | "<EventID>4103<" |
| 1 | TERM |
| 1 | "<EventID>4104<" |
| 1 | "AutoHotkey.exe" |
| 1 | "AutoHotkey.rc" |
| 1 | "AutoHotkey32.exe" |
| 1 | "AutoHotkey32_UIA.exe" |
| 1 | "AutoHotkey64.exe" |
| 1 | "AutoHotkey64_UIA.exe" |
| 1 | "AutoHotkeyA32.exe" |
| 1 | "AutoHotkeyA32_UIA.exe" |
| 1 | "AutoHotkeyU32.exe" |
| 1 | "AutoHotkeyU32_UIA.exe" |
| 1 | "AutoHotkeyU64.exe" |
| 1 | "AutoHotkeyU64_UIA.exe" |
| 1 | "AutoHotkeyUX.exe" |
| 1 | ".ahk" |