Potential DLL SideLoading via Trusted Microsoft Programs
editPotential DLL SideLoading via Trusted Microsoft Programs
editIdentifies an instance of a Windows trusted program that is known to be vulnerable to DLL Search Order Hijacking starting after being renamed or from a non-standard path. This is uncommon behavior and may indicate an attempt to evade defenses via side loading a malicious DLL within the memory space of one of those processes.
Rule type: eql
Rule indices:
- winlogbeat-*
- logs-endpoint.events.*
- logs-windows.*
Severity: high
Risk score: 73
Runs every: 5 minutes
Searches indices from: now-9m (Date Math format, see also Additional look-back time
)
Maximum alerts per execution: 100
Tags:
- Elastic
- Host
- Windows
- Threat Detection
- Defense Evasion
Version: 6 (version history)
Added (Elastic Stack release): 7.10.0
Last modified (Elastic Stack release): 8.2.0
Rule authors: Elastic
Rule license: Elastic License v2
Investigation guide
edit## Config 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 == "start" and process.pe.original_file_name in ("WinWord.exe", "EXPLORER.EXE", "w3wp.exe", "DISM.EXE") and not (process.name : ("winword.exe", "explorer.exe", "w3wp.exe", "Dism.exe") or process.executable : ("?:\\Windows\\explorer.exe", "?:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\root\\Office*\\WINWORD.EXE", "?:\\Program Files?(x86)\\Microsoft Office\\root\\Office*\\WINWORD.EXE", "?:\\Windows\\System32\\Dism.exe", "?:\\Windows\\SysWOW64\\Dism.exe", "?:\\Windows\\System32\\inetsrv\\w3wp.exe") )
Threat mapping
editFramework: 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/
Rule version history
edit- Version 6 (8.2.0 release)
-
- Formatting only
- Version 5 (7.13.0 release)
-
-
Updated query, changed from:
event.category:process and event.type:(start or process_started) and process.pe.original_file_name:(WinWord.exe or EXPLORER.EXE or w3wp.exe or DISM.EXE) and not (process.name:(winword.exe or WINWORD.EXE or explorer.exe or w3wp.exe or Dism.exe) or process.executable:("C:\Windows\explorer.exe" or C\:\\Program?Files\\Microsoft?Office\\root\\Office*\\WINWORD.EXE or C\ :\\Program?Files?\(x86\)\\Microsoft?Office\\root\\Office*\\WINWORD.EXE or "C:\Windows\System32\Dism.exe" or "C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Dism.exe" or "C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\w3wp.exe"))
-
- Version 4 (7.12.0 release)
-
- Formatting only
- Version 3 (7.11.2 release)
-
- Formatting only
- Version 2 (7.11.0 release)
-
-
Updated query, changed from:
event.category:process and event.type:(start or process_started) and (process.pe.original_file_name:(WinWord.exe or EXPLORER.EXE or w3wp.exe or DISM.EXE) or winlog.event_data.OriginalFileName:(WinWord.exe or EXPLORER.EXE or w3wp.exe or DISM.EXE)) and not (process.name:(winword.exe or WINWORD.EXE or explorer.exe or w3wp.exe or Dism.exe) or process.executable:("C:\Windows\explorer.exe" or C\:\\Program?Files\\Microsoft?Office\\root\\Office*\\WINWORD.EXE or C\ :\\Program?Files?\(x86\)\\Microsoft?Office\\root\\Office*\\WINWORD.EXE or "C:\Windows\System32\Dism.exe" or "C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Dism.exe" or "C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\w3wp.exe"))
-