IMPORTANT: No additional bug fixes or documentation updates
will be released for this version. For the latest information, see the
current release documentation.
Incoming DCOM Lateral Movement via MSHTA
editIncoming DCOM Lateral Movement via MSHTA
editIdentifies the use of Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) to execute commands from a remote host, which are launched via the HTA Application COM Object. This behavior may indicate an attacker abusing a DCOM application to move laterally while attempting to evade detection.
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:
Tags:
- Elastic
- Host
- Windows
- Threat Detection
- Lateral Movement
Version: 8
Rule authors:
- Elastic
Rule license: Elastic License v2
Rule query
editsequence with maxspan=1m
[process where event.type in ("start", "process_started") and
process.name : "mshta.exe" and process.args : "-Embedding"
] by host.id, process.entity_id
[network where event.type == "start" and process.name : "mshta.exe" and
network.direction : ("incoming", "ingress") and network.transport == "tcp" and
source.port > 49151 and destination.port > 49151 and source.ip != "127.0.0.1" and source.ip != "::1"
] by host.id, process.entity_id
Framework: MITRE ATT&CKTM
-
Tactic:
- Name: Lateral Movement
- ID: TA0008
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0008/
-
Technique:
- Name: Remote Services
- ID: T1021
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1021/
-
Sub-technique:
- Name: Distributed Component Object Model
- ID: T1021.003
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1021/003/
-
Tactic:
- Name: Defense Evasion
- ID: TA0005
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0005/
-
Technique:
- Name: System Binary Proxy Execution
- ID: T1218
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1218/
-
Sub-technique:
- Name: Mshta
- ID: T1218.005
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1218/005/