Detection rules › Splunk
Execution from Startup Folder (Windows Event Log)
Adversaries may achieve persistence by adding a program to a startup folder. This use case looks for executions of processes that reside in those folders. NOTE, this use case will not identify the creation or execution of shortcuts(lnks) saved in the startup folder
MITRE ATT&CK coverage
| Tactic | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Persistence | T1547.001 Boot or Logon Autostart Execution: Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder |
| Privilege Escalation | T1547.001 Boot or Logon Autostart Execution: Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder |
References
Event coverage
| Provider | Event | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Security-Auditing | Event ID 4688 | A new process has been created. |
Rule body yaml
id: '5997.6373'
title: Execution from Startup Folder
description: 'Adversaries may achieve persistence by adding a program to a startup
folder. This use case looks for executions of processes that reside in those folders.
NOTE, this use case will not identify the creation or execution of shortcuts(lnks)
saved in the startup folder. -- Threat Actor Association: APT29/Nobelium, Kimsuky,
Mustang Panda (aka. Stately Taurus//Earth Preta/BRONZE PRESIDENT/TA416/RedDelta),
UNC2465 - Software Association: Play, SmokedHAM, YellowCockatoo --'
logic_format: Splunk
logic: '`get_endpoint_data` `get_endpoint_data_winevent` (TERM(EventCode=4688) OR
"<EventID>4688<" OR Type=Process) TERM(Startup) | table _time, host, user process,
process_*, signature_id, parent_* | bin span=1s | stats values(*) as * by _time,
host | where match(parent_process_path, "(?i)\QMicrosoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp\E")
OR match(process_path, "(?i)\QMicrosoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp\E") '
techniques:
- persistence:boot or logon autostart execution:registry run keys / startup folder
technique_id:
- T1547.001
data_category:
- Windows event logs
references:
- https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research/2014/11/operation_doubletap.html
Stages and Predicates
Stage 1: search
`get_endpoint_data` `get_endpoint_data_winevent` (TERM(EventCode=4688) OR "<EventID>4688<" OR Type=Process) TERM(Startup)
Stage 2: table
| table _time, host, user process, process_*, signature_id, parent_*
Stage 3: bucket
| bin span=1s
Stage 4: stats
| stats values(*) as * by _time, host
Stage 5: where
| where match(parent_process_path, "(?i)\QMicrosoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp\E") OR match(process_path, "(?i)\QMicrosoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp\E")
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 |
|
parent_process_path | match |
|
process_path | match |
|
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>4688<" |
| 1 | TERM |
| 1 | Startup |