IMPORTANT: No additional bug fixes or documentation updates
will be released for this version. For the latest information, see the
current release documentation.
Suspicious DLL Loaded for Persistence or Privilege Escalation
editSuspicious DLL Loaded for Persistence or Privilege Escalation
editIdentifies the loading of a non Microsoft signed DLL that is missing on a default Windows install (phantom DLL) or one that can be loaded from a different location by a native Windows process. This may be abused to persist or elevate privileges via privileged file write vulnerabilities.
Rule type: eql
Rule indices:
- winlogbeat-*
- logs-endpoint.events.*
- logs-windows.*
Severity: high
Risk score: 73
Runs every: 5m
Searches indices from: now-9m (Date Math format, see also Additional look-back time
)
Maximum alerts per execution: 100
References:
- https://itm4n.github.io/windows-dll-hijacking-clarified/
- http://remoteawesomethoughts.blogspot.com/2019/05/windows-10-task-schedulerservice.html
- https://googleprojectzero.blogspot.com/2018/04/windows-exploitation-tricks-exploiting.html
- https://shellz.club/2020/10/16/edgegdi-dll-for-persistence-and-lateral-movement.html
- https://windows-internals.com/faxing-your-way-to-system/
- http://waleedassar.blogspot.com/2013/01/wow64logdll.html
Tags:
- Elastic
- Host
- Windows
- Threat Detection
- Persistence
- Privilege Escalation
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
editany where (event.category == "library" or (event.category == "process" and event.action : "Image loaded*")) and ( /* compatible with Elastic Endpoint Library Events */ (dll.name : ("wlbsctrl.dll", "wbemcomn.dll", "WptsExtensions.dll", "Tsmsisrv.dll", "TSVIPSrv.dll", "Msfte.dll", "wow64log.dll", "WindowsCoreDeviceInfo.dll", "Ualapi.dll", "wlanhlp.dll", "phoneinfo.dll", "EdgeGdi.dll", "cdpsgshims.dll", "windowsperformancerecordercontrol.dll", "diagtrack_win.dll") and (dll.code_signature.trusted == false or dll.code_signature.exists == false)) or /* compatible with Sysmon EventID 7 - Image Load */ (file.name : ("wlbsctrl.dll", "wbemcomn.dll", "WptsExtensions.dll", "Tsmsisrv.dll", "TSVIPSrv.dll", "Msfte.dll", "wow64log.dll", "WindowsCoreDeviceInfo.dll", "Ualapi.dll", "wlanhlp.dll", "phoneinfo.dll", "EdgeGdi.dll", "cdpsgshims.dll", "windowsperformancerecordercontrol.dll", "diagtrack_win.dll") and not file.code_signature.status == "Valid") )
Framework: MITRE ATT&CKTM
-
Tactic:
- Name: Privilege Escalation
- ID: TA0004
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0004/
-
Technique:
- Name: Hijack Execution Flow
- ID: T1574
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1574/
-
Sub-technique:
- Name: DLL Side-Loading
- ID: T1574.002
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1574/002/
-
Tactic:
- Name: Persistence
- ID: TA0003
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0003/
-
Technique:
- Name: Hijack Execution Flow
- ID: T1574
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1574/
-
Sub-technique:
- Name: DLL Search Order Hijacking
- ID: T1574.001
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1574/001/