Detection rules › Splunk
Indirect Command Execution (Windows Event Log)
An adversary may use default tools, usually not restricted, to gain execution without using cmd
MITRE ATT&CK coverage
| Tactic | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Privilege Escalation | T1548 Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism |
| Stealth | T1202 Indirect Command Execution |
References
Event coverage
| Provider | Event | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Security-Auditing | Event ID 4688 | A new process has been created. |
Rule body yaml
id: '5971.6315'
title: Indirect Command Execution
description: 'An adversary may use default tools, usually not restricted, to gain
execution without using cmd. Threat Actor Association: Andariel, APT28 - Software
Association: IcedId - Atomics T1548.002 Test#3 Atomics T1202 Test #1 Atomics T1202
Test #2'
logic_format: Splunk
logic: '`get_endpoint_data` `get_endpoint_data_winevent` (TERM(EventCode=4688) OR
"<EventID>4688<") (TERM(forfiles) OR TERM(fodhelper) OR TERM(ftp) OR TERM(pcalua))
| regex parent_process_name="(?i)(forfiles|fodhelper|ftp|pcalua)\.exe" | table _time,
host, user parent_*, process, process_*, signature_id | bin span=1s | stats values(*)
as * by _time, host '
techniques:
- defense-evasion:indirect command execution
- privilege-escalation:abuse elevation control mechanism
technique_id:
- T1202
- T1548
data_category:
- Windows event logs
references:
- https://pentestlab.blog/tag/pcalua-exe/
- https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/master/atomics/T1202/T1202.md#atomic-test-1---indirect-command-execution---pcaluaexe
Stages and Predicates
Stage 1: search
`get_endpoint_data` `get_endpoint_data_winevent` (TERM(EventCode=4688) OR "<EventID>4688<") (TERM(forfiles) OR TERM(fodhelper) OR TERM(ftp) OR TERM(pcalua))
Stage 2: regex
| regex parent_process_name="(?i)(forfiles|fodhelper|ftp|pcalua)\.exe"
Stage 3: table
| table _time, host, user parent_*, process, process_*, signature_id
Stage 4: bucket
| bin span=1s
Stage 5: 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 |
|
parent_process_name | regex_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 | forfiles |
| 1 | TERM |
| 1 | fodhelper |
| 1 | TERM |
| 1 | ftp |
| 1 | TERM |
| 1 | pcalua |