IMPORTANT: No additional bug fixes or documentation updates
will be released for this version. For the latest information, see the
current release documentation.
Process Execution from an Unusual Directory
editProcess Execution from an Unusual Directory
editIdentifies process execution from suspicious default Windows directories. This is sometimes done by adversaries to hide malware in trusted paths.
Rule type: eql
Rule indices:
- winlogbeat-*
- logs-endpoint.events.*
- logs-windows.*
Severity: medium
Risk score: 47
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
- Defense Evasion
Version: 7
Rule authors:
- Elastic
Rule license: Elastic License v2
Investigation guide
edit## Setup If enabling an EQL rule on a non-elastic-agent index (such as beats) for versions <8.2, events will not define `event.ingested` and default fallback for EQL rules was not added until 8.2, so you will need to add a custom pipeline to populate `event.ingested` to @timestamp for this rule to work.
Rule query
editprocess where event.type in ("start", "process_started", "info") and /* add suspicious execution paths here */ process.executable : ("C:\\PerfLogs\\*.exe","C:\\Users\\Public\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\Tasks\\*.exe","C:\\Intel\\*.exe","C:\\AMD\\Temp\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\AppReadiness\\*.exe", "C:\\Windows\\ServiceState\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\security\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\IdentityCRL\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\Branding\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\csc\\*.exe", "C:\\Windows\\DigitalLocker\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\en-US\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\wlansvc\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\Prefetch\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\Fonts\\*.exe", "C:\\Windows\\diagnostics\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\TAPI\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\INF\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\System32\\Speech\\*.exe","C:\\windows\\tracing\\*.exe", "c:\\windows\\IME\\*.exe","c:\\Windows\\Performance\\*.exe","c:\\windows\\intel\\*.exe","c:\\windows\\ms\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\dot3svc\\*.exe", "C:\\Windows\\panther\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\RemotePackages\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\OCR\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\appcompat\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\apppatch\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\addins\\*.exe", "C:\\Windows\\Setup\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\Help\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\SKB\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\Vss\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\Web\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\servicing\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\CbsTemp\\*.exe", "C:\\Windows\\Logs\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\WaaS\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\ShellExperiences\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\ShellComponents\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\PLA\\*.exe", "C:\\Windows\\Migration\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\debug\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\Cursors\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\Containers\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\Boot\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\bcastdvr\\*.exe", "C:\\Windows\\assembly\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\TextInput\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\security\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\schemas\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\SchCache\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\Resources\\*.exe", "C:\\Windows\\rescache\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\Provisioning\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\PrintDialog\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\PolicyDefinitions\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\media\\*.exe", "C:\\Windows\\Globalization\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\L2Schemas\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\LiveKernelReports\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\ModemLogs\\*.exe","C:\\Windows\\ImmersiveControlPanel\\*.exe") and not process.name : ("SpeechUXWiz.exe","SystemSettings.exe","TrustedInstaller.exe","PrintDialog.exe","MpSigStub.exe","LMS.exe","mpam-*.exe") and not process.executable : ("?:\\Intel\\Wireless\\WUSetupLauncher.exe", "?:\\Intel\\Wireless\\Setup.exe", "?:\\Intel\\Move Mouse.exe", "?:\\windows\\Panther\\DiagTrackRunner.exe", "?:\\Windows\\servicing\\GC64\\tzupd.exe", "?:\\Users\\Public\\res\\RemoteLite.exe", "?:\\Users\\Public\\IBM\\ClientSolutions\\*.exe", "?:\\Users\\Public\\Documents\\syspin.exe", "?:\\Users\\Public\\res\\FileWatcher.exe") /* uncomment once in winlogbeat */ /* and not (process.code_signature.subject_name == "Microsoft Corporation" and process.code_signature.trusted == true) */
Framework: MITRE ATT&CKTM
-
Tactic:
- Name: Defense Evasion
- ID: TA0005
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0005/
-
Technique:
- Name: Masquerading
- ID: T1036
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1036/
-
Sub-technique:
- Name: Match Legitimate Name or Location
- ID: T1036.005
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1036/005/