Detection rules › Splunk
MSIExec Install MSI File (Sysmon)
The Windows Installer technology uses Msiexec.exe for installing MSI and MSP packages. This tool gives you full control over the installation process
MITRE ATT&CK coverage
| Tactic | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Stealth | T1218.007 System Binary Proxy Execution: Msiexec |
References
Event coverage
| Provider | Event | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Sysmon | Event ID 1 | Process creation |
Rule body yaml
id: '1117.1195'
title: MSIExec Install MSI File
description: 'The Windows Installer technology uses Msiexec.exe for installing MSI
and MSP packages. This tool gives you full control over the installation process.
-- Threat Actor Association: APT-K-47/Mysterious Elephant, APT36, TA505 -- Software
Association: Clop, DirtyMoe, Hive, MirrorBlast, Qakbot/Qbot, Yellow Cockatoo/Jupiter
Infostealer, Zloader -- LOLBAS -- Atomics T1218.007 Test #1 Atomics T1218.007 Test
#2 Atomics T1218.007 Test #3 Atomics T1218.007 Test #4'
logic_format: Splunk
logic: '`get_endpoint_data` `get_endpoint_data_sysmon` (TERM(EventCode=1) OR "<EventID>1<"
) TERM(msiexec) ".msi" | regex process="(?i)(msiexec\.exe).*?\.\w{2,5}"| table _time,
host, user parent_*, process, process_*, signature_id | bin span=1s | stats values(*)
as * by _time, host '
techniques:
- defense-evasion:system binary proxy execution:msiexec
technique_id:
- T1218.007
data_category:
- Process command-line parameters
- Windows Sysmon
references:
- https://news.sophos.com/en-us/2020/05/21/ragnar-locker-ransomware-deploys-virtual-machine-to-dodge-security/
Stages and Predicates
Stage 1: search
`get_endpoint_data` `get_endpoint_data_sysmon` (TERM(EventCode=1) OR "<EventID>1<" ) TERM(msiexec) ".msi"
Stage 2: regex
| regex process="(?i)(msiexec\.exe).*?\.\w{2,5}"
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.
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>1<" |
| 1 | TERM |
| 1 | msiexec |
| 1 | ".msi" |