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Local Scheduled Task Creation

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Local Scheduled Task Creation

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A scheduled task can be used by an adversary to establish persistence, move laterally, and/or escalate privileges.

Rule type: eql

Rule indices:

winlogbeat-*
logs-endpoint.events.*
logs-windows.*

Severity: low

Risk score: 21

Runs every: 5m

Searches indices from: now-9m (Date Math format, see also Additional look-back time)

Maximum alerts per execution: 100

References: None

Tags:

Elastic
Host
Windows
Threat Detection
Persistence

Version: 10

Rule authors:

Elastic

Rule license: Elastic License v2

Rule query

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sequence with maxspan=1m
  [process where event.type != "end" and
    ((process.name : ("cmd.exe", "wscript.exe", "rundll32.exe", "regsvr32.exe", "wmic.exe", "mshta.exe",
                      "powershell.exe", "pwsh.exe", "powershell_ise.exe", "WmiPrvSe.exe", "wsmprovhost.exe", "winrshost.exe") or
    process.pe.original_file_name : ("cmd.exe", "wscript.exe", "rundll32.exe", "regsvr32.exe", "wmic.exe", "mshta.exe",
                                     "powershell.exe", "pwsh.dll", "powershell_ise.exe", "WmiPrvSe.exe", "wsmprovhost.exe",
                                     "winrshost.exe")) or
    process.code_signature.trusted == false)] by process.entity_id
  [process where event.type == "start" and
    (process.name : "schtasks.exe" or process.pe.original_file_name == "schtasks.exe") and
    process.args : ("/create", "-create") and process.args : ("/RU", "/SC", "/TN", "/TR", "/F", "/XML") and
    /* exclude SYSTEM Integrity Level - look for task creations by non-SYSTEM user */
    not (process.Ext.token.integrity_level_name : "System" or winlog.event_data.IntegrityLevel : "System")
  ] by process.parent.entity_id

Framework: MITRE ATT&CK^TM

Tactic:
- Name: Persistence
- ID: TA0003
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0003/
Technique:
- Name: Scheduled Task/Job
- ID: T1053
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1053/
Sub-technique:
- Name: Scheduled Task
- ID: T1053.005
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1053/005/

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