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Threat Feed

January 2024 (30)

medium advisory

Azure Service Principal Removal Detection

Detection of a service principal removal in Azure, potentially indicating malicious activity or an attempt to remove evidence of a compromise.

Azure service principal stealth cloud
2r 1t
medium advisory

Container Runtime CLI Execution with Suspicious Arguments

Detects execution of container runtime CLI tools (ctr, crictl, nerdctl) with arguments indicating container creation, command execution inside existing containers, image manipulation, or host filesystem mounting, potentially leading to privileged container creation and unauthorized access to sensitive data.

Elastic Defend +1 container execution privilege-escalation linux
2r 2t
high advisory

Detecting RPC Traffic to the Internet

This brief focuses on detecting Remote Procedure Call (RPC) traffic originating from internal networks and reaching the public internet, which is indicative of potential initial access or backdoor activity.

Elastic License v2 network-traffic initial-access lateral-movement rpc
2r 2t
high advisory

Kubernetes Pod Exec with Curl or Wget to HTTPS

This rule detects Kubernetes pod exec API calls using curl or wget to fetch HTTPS URLs, potentially indicating malicious activity such as staging tools or exfiltrating data.

kubernetes execution command and control threat detection
2r 2t
low advisory

Modification of Boot Configuration using Bcdedit

Adversaries may modify the Boot Configuration Data (BCD) store using bcdedit.exe to disable recovery options, which is often associated with ransomware or destructive attacks, preventing system recovery.

Windows impact boot-configuration
2r 1t
medium advisory

UAC Bypass via DiskCleanup Scheduled Task Hijack

Attackers bypass User Account Control (UAC) to stealthily execute code with elevated permissions by hijacking the DiskCleanup Scheduled Task, leveraging specific arguments with non-standard executables.

Windows uac-bypass privilege-escalation
2r 3t
medium advisory

Unsecured Elasticsearch Node Inbound Connection

This rule identifies potentially unsecured Elasticsearch nodes that lack TLS and/or authentication and are accepting inbound network connections, which could allow adversaries to gain initial access, exfiltrate data, or disrupt services.

Elasticsearch initial-access reconnaissance network
2r 2t
high advisory

Suspicious PowerShell Command Removing Windows Defender Directory

A PowerShell command attempting to remove the Windows Defender directory is detected via PowerShell Script Block Logging, potentially indicating an attacker's attempt to disable endpoint protection for further malicious activities.

Windows Defender +3 powershell defense-evasion windows-defender endpoint
2r 1t
medium advisory

Potential Database Dumping Activity on Linux

This rule detects the use of database dumping utilities to exfiltrate data from a database on Linux systems, where attackers may attempt to dump the database to a file and then exfiltrate the file to a remote server.

PostgreSQL +3 exfiltration database linux
2r 1t
high advisory

ETW Registry Disabled via Registry Modification

Attackers may disable Event Tracing for Windows (ETW) for the .NET Framework by modifying the ETWEnabled registry value, allowing them to evade endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools and hide malicious activity.

.NETFramework +3 etw registry defense-evasion windows t1127 t1685
2r 1t
medium advisory

Kubernetes Multi-Resource Discovery Reconnaissance

Adversaries may perform reconnaissance in a Kubernetes environment by rapidly querying multiple resource types to map the environment and identify potential privilege escalation paths.

Kubernetes discovery reconnaissance
2r 1t
high advisory

NetSupport Manager Execution from Unusual Path

This rule detects the execution of NetSupport remote access software from non-default paths, potentially indicating an adversary abusing NetSupport Manager for malicious remote control.

NetSupport Manager command_and_control remote_access_tool netsupport
2r 1t
medium advisory

Registry Persistence via AppCert DLL

Detection of Registry Persistence via AppCert DLL, which involves modifying registry keys to load malicious DLLs upon process creation, enabling persistence and potential privilege escalation.

Windows persistence privilege-escalation
2r 2t
medium advisory

Suspicious Non-Interactive PowerShell Process Creation

Detects PowerShell processes spawned by non-interactive parent processes, potentially indicating malicious script execution or automation bypassing user interaction.

Windows +3 powershell execution non-interactive
2r 1t
high threat

Suspicious Process Accessing Browser Password Store

Detection of non-browser processes accessing browser user data folders, a tactic used by malware such as Snake Keylogger to steal credentials and sensitive information.

Splunk Enterprise +2 Snake Keylogger credential-access stealer windows
2r 1t
high advisory

Windows DISM Used to Remove Windows Defender

The analytic detects the use of `dism.exe` to remove Windows Defender, potentially allowing adversaries to evade detection and carry out further malicious actions.

Windows Defender +3 defense-evasion endpoint windows
2r 1t
high advisory

Azure Application URI Configuration Modification

Detection of Azure application URI modifications that can be indicative of malicious activity, such as using dangling URIs, non-HTTPS URIs, wildcard domains, or URIs pointing to uncontrolled domains, potentially leading to initial access, stealth, persistence, credential access, and privilege escalation.

Azure Active Directory cloud azure application uri modification persistence credential-access privilege-escalation
3r 4t
medium threat

Kerberos Traffic from Unusual Process

Detects network connections to the standard Kerberos port from an unusual process other than lsass.exe, potentially indicating Kerberoasting or Pass-the-Ticket activity on Windows systems.

Elastic Defend +22 kerberoasting credential-access lateral-movement windows
2r 2t
low advisory

MSBuild Process Injection Detection

The Microsoft Build Engine (MSBuild) is being abused to perform process injection by creating threads in other processes, a technique used to evade detection and potentially escalate privileges.

MSBuild defense-evasion privilege-escalation process-injection
2r 3t
medium advisory

Potential Defense Evasion via Filter Manager (fltMC.exe)

Adversaries may abuse the Filter Manager Control Program (fltMC.exe) to unload filter drivers, thereby evading security software defenses such as malware detection and file system monitoring.

Defender XDR +3 defense-evasion filter-driver fltMC.exe windows
2r 1t
medium advisory

Potential RemoteMonologue Attack via Registry Modification

This rule detects potential RemoteMonologue attacks by identifying attempts to perform session hijacking via COM object registry modification, specifically when the RunAs value is set to Interactive User.

MsMpEng.exe +4 remotemonologue defense-evasion persistence windows
2r 4t
medium advisory

Remote Execution via File Shares

This rule identifies the execution of a file that was created by the virtual system process, potentially indicating lateral movement via network file shares in Windows environments.

lateral-movement file-share windows
2r 2t
medium advisory

Suspicious CertUtil Commands Used for Defense Evasion

Attackers abuse certutil.exe, a native Windows utility, to download/deobfuscate malware for command and control or data exfiltration, evading defenses.

Windows defense-evasion command-and-control credential-access
2r 3t
medium advisory

Suspicious Execution from a Mounted Device

Attackers may use mounted devices as a non-standard working directory to execute signed binaries or script interpreters, evading traditional defense mechanisms, particularly when launched via explorer.exe.

Windows defense-evasion execution mounted-device
2r 9t
medium advisory

Suspicious MSBuild Execution from Scripting Processes

Adversaries may use MSBuild, a legitimate Microsoft tool, to execute malicious code through script interpreters for defense evasion and execution on Windows systems.

MSBuild defense-evasion execution proxy-execution
2r 6t
medium advisory

Suspicious PowerShell Engine ImageLoad

This rule identifies instances where the PowerShell engine is loaded by processes other than powershell.exe, potentially indicating attackers attempting to use PowerShell functionality stealthily by using the underlying System.Management.Automation namespace and bypassing PowerShell security features.

Elastic Defend powershell execution windows
2r 1t
medium advisory

Unsigned DLL Side-Loading from Suspicious Folders by Trusted Processes

This detection identifies a Windows trusted program running from locations often abused by adversaries to masquerade as a trusted program and loading a recently dropped unsigned DLL, which indicates an attempt to evade defenses via side-loading a malicious DLL within the memory space of a signed process.

Elastic Defend defense-evasion dll-sideloading windows
2r 2t
medium advisory

Unusual Network Connection via DllHost

The rule identifies unusual instances of dllhost.exe making outbound network connections to non-local IPs, which may indicate adversarial Command and Control activity and defense evasion.

Elastic Defend +2 defense-evasion command-and-control windows
2r 2t
low advisory

Windows User Account Creation via Net.exe

This rule identifies attempts to create new users on Windows systems using net.exe, a common tactic used by attackers to increase access or establish persistence.

Microsoft Defender XDR +2 persistence user-account-creation windows
2r 2t
critical threat

Zoom macOS Client Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

Zoom's macOS client contains a local privilege escalation vulnerability that allows an unprivileged attacker to gain root privileges by subverting the runwithroot script, due to the insecure use of the deprecated AuthorizationExecuteWithPrivileges API.

Zoom Client for Mac +1 privilege-escalation macos zoom
2r 1t