Expand.exe Execution (PowerShell)

id: '35367.62270'
title: Expand.exe Execution
description: expand.exe is a legitimate Windows utility used to extract files from
  compressed .cab archives. Threat actors have been observed abusing expand.exe to
  unpack malicious payloads hidden within .cab files on compromised systems. This
  use case detects expand.exe executions with .cab file extensions or references to
  suspicious path locations. Allowlisting expected processes with full file paths
  and command lines where possible is recommended for best fidelity. Living Off the
  Land Binary and Scripts (LOLBAS) (LOLBIN)
logic_format: Splunk
logic: '`get_endpoint_data` `get_endpoint_data_powershell` (TERM(EventCode=4103) OR
  "<EventID>4103<" OR TERM(EventCode=4104) OR "<EventID>4104<") "expand.exe" (".cab"
  OR "/F:" OR "-F:" OR "\\ProgramData" OR "\\Public" OR "\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\"
  OR "\\AppData\\Roaming\\Temp\\") | where match(process, "(?i)\.cab|(-|\/)F:|\x5cAppData\x5c|(Local|Roaming)\x5cTemp\x5c")
  and not match(process, "(?i):\x5cProgramData\x5cDell\x5cUpdateService\x5cTemp\x5c")
  | table _time, host, user, process, process_name, parent_process_path, parent_process_name
  | bin span=1s | stats values(*) as * by _time, host '
techniques:
- command-and-control:ingress tool transfer
- defense-evasion:hide artifacts:ntfs file attributes
technique_id:
- T1105
- T1564.004
data_category:
- PowerShell logs
references:
- https://lolbas-project.github.io/lolbas/Binaries/Expand/
- https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/c04bef2fbbe8beff6c7620d5d7ea6872dbe7acba/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_expand_cabinet_files.yml
- https://www.threatdown.com/blog/new-variant-of-konni-malware-used-in-campaign-targetting-russia/
- https://www.sygnia.co/blog/ghost-emperor-demodex-rootkit/