Elastic Defend

An adversary may abuse port forwarding to bypass network segmentation restrictions by creating a new port forwarding rule through modification of the Windows registry.

A suspicious Zoom child process was detected, indicating a potential attempt to run unnoticed by masquerading as Zoom.exe or exploiting a vulnerability, resulting in the execution of cmd.exe, powershell.exe, pwsh.exe, or powershell_ise.exe.

This rule identifies the execution of PowerShell with suspicious argument values, often observed during malware installation, by detecting unusual PowerShell arguments indicative of abuse, focusing on patterns like encoded commands, suspicious downloads, and obfuscation techniques.

Adversaries can abuse the Windows command line debugging utility cdb.exe to execute commands or shellcode from non-standard paths, evading traditional security measures.

This rule detects modifications to the registered Subject Interface Package (SIP) providers, which are used by the Windows cryptographic system to validate file signatures, potentially indicating an attempt to bypass signature validation or inject code for defense evasion.

Detection of service DACL modifications via `sc.exe` using the `sdset` command, potentially leading to defense evasion by denying service access to legitimate users or system accounts.

Adversaries may abuse RDP files delivered via phishing from suspicious locations to gain unauthorized access to systems.

This rule detects file name patterns generated by the use of Sysinternals SDelete utility, potentially used by attackers to delete forensic indicators and hinder data recovery efforts.

This brief details a registry modification attack that downgrades the system to NTLMv1 authentication, enabling NetNTLMv1 downgrade attacks, typically performed with local administrator privileges on Windows systems.

Attackers are abusing the legitimate file synchronization tool rclone, often renamed to masquerade as legitimate software, to exfiltrate data to cloud storage or remote endpoints.

Adversaries may modify the LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy registry key to bypass User Account Control (UAC) and gain elevated privileges remotely by granting high-integrity tokens to remote connections from local administrators, facilitating lateral movement and defense evasion.

The rule detects the execution of the VScode portable binary with the tunnel command line option, potentially indicating an attempt to establish a remote tunnel session to Github or a remote VScode instance for unauthorized access and command and control.

This rule detects command shell activity, such as cmd.exe or powershell.exe, initiated by RunDLL32, a technique commonly abused by attackers to execute malicious code and bypass security controls.

The rule detects a potential chroot container escape via mount, which involves a user within a container mounting the host's root file system and using chroot to escape the containerized environment, indicating a privilege escalation attempt.

Detects suspicious chroot execution within a Linux container context, potentially indicating a container escape attempt by pivoting to an alternate root filesystem.

Detects suspicious DNS queries containing a base64-encoded blob, indicating potential Kerberos coercion attacks and SPN spoofing via DNS to coerce authentication to attacker-controlled hosts, enabling Kerberos or NTLM relay attacks.

Adversaries may use a specially crafted Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC) policy to restrict the execution of security products, detected by unusual process creation of WDAC policy files.

Attackers may leverage misconfigured SUID/SGID permissions on Linux systems to escalate privileges to root or establish persistence by executing processes with root privileges initiated by non-root users.

Detection of MsiExec spawning child processes that initiate network connections, potentially indicating abuse of Windows Installers for malware delivery and defense evasion.

Detection of Alternate Data Stream (ADS) creation at a volume root directory, a technique used to hide malware and tools by exploiting how ADSs in root directories are not readily visible to standard system utilities, indicating a defense evasion attempt.

The rule identifies the loading of unusual or unsigned DLLs by the DNS Server process, which can indicate exploitation of the ServerLevelPluginDll functionality, potentially leading to privilege escalation and remote code execution with SYSTEM privileges.

Attackers with Backup Operator privileges may abuse wbadmin.exe to access the NTDS.dit file, enabling credential dumping and domain compromise.

Adversaries may use Microsoft Management Console (MMC) files from untrusted paths to bypass security controls for initial access and execution on Windows systems.

Attackers with DNSAdmin privileges can modify or disable the DNS Global Query Block List (GQBL) in Windows, allowing exploitation of hosts running WPAD with default settings for privilege escalation and lateral movement.

This rule identifies suspicious child processes spawned by ScreenConnect client processes, potentially indicating unauthorized access and command execution abusing ScreenConnect remote access software to perform malicious activities such as data exfiltration or establishing persistence.

Adversaries use parent process PID spoofing to evade detection by creating processes with mismatched parent-child relationships, hindering process monitoring and potentially elevating privileges on Windows systems.

The detection rule identifies suspicious child processes spawned from communication applications on Windows systems, potentially indicating masquerading or exploitation of vulnerabilities within these applications.

Adversaries may disable Network-Level Authentication (NLA) by modifying specific registry keys to bypass authentication requirements for Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) and enable persistence mechanisms.

Adversaries use the Windows built-in utility Netsh to dump Wireless saved access keys in clear text, potentially leading to credential compromise.

Adversaries may clear the command history of a compromised account to conceal the actions undertaken during an intrusion on a Windows system.

Adversaries may modify file or directory ownership to evade access control lists (ACLs) and access protected files, often using icacls.exe or takeown.exe to reset permissions on system files.

Attackers may abuse the Netsh Helper DLL functionality by adding malicious DLLs to execute payloads every time the netsh utility is executed via administrators or scheduled tasks, achieving persistence.

An expired or revoked driver being loaded on a Windows system may indicate an attempt to gain code execution in kernel mode or abuse revoked certificates for malicious purposes, potentially leading to privilege escalation or defense evasion.

Msxsl.exe, a legitimate Windows utility, is being abused by adversaries to make network connections to non-local IPs for command and control or data exfiltration, potentially bypassing security measures.

Adversaries may use vaultcmd.exe to list credentials stored in the Windows Credential Manager to gain unauthorized access to saved usernames and passwords, potentially in preparation for lateral movement.

This rule detects suspicious managed code hosting processes on Windows systems, potentially indicating code injection or defense evasion tactics by monitoring file events associated with processes commonly used to host managed code, such as wscript.exe, cscript.exe, and mshta.exe.

Adversaries may masquerade malicious executables within directories mimicking the legitimate Windows Program Files directory to evade defenses and execute untrusted code.

This rule detects attempts to install a file from a remote server using MsiExec, which adversaries may abuse to deliver malware, by identifying msiexec.exe processes running with arguments indicative of remote installations and executed from suspicious parent processes.

This rule detects potential exploitation of unquoted service path vulnerabilities, where adversaries may escalate privileges by placing a malicious executable in a higher-level directory within the path of an unquoted service executable.

Adversaries may abuse the Windows Certreq utility to download files or upload data to a remote URL by making an HTTP POST request, potentially for command and control or exfiltration, which can be detected by monitoring process execution events.

Attackers modify the Microsoft Office 'Office Test' Registry key to achieve persistence by specifying a malicious DLL that executes upon application startup.

Detects suspicious creation of Alternate Data Streams (ADS) on targeted files using script or command interpreters, indicative of malware hiding in ADS for defense evasion.

Attackers may configure existing services or create new ones to execute system shells to elevate their privileges from administrator to SYSTEM, using services.exe as the parent process of the shell.

Attackers can enable full user-mode dumps system-wide via registry modification to facilitate LSASS credential dumping, allowing extraction of credentials from process memory without deploying malware.

Detects the execution of `gpresult.exe` with arguments `/z`, `/v`, `/r`, or `/x` on Windows systems, which attackers may use during reconnaissance to enumerate Group Policy Objects and identify opportunities for privilege escalation or lateral movement.

This rule identifies the installation of potentially malicious browser extensions, which adversaries can leverage for persistence and unauthorized activity by monitoring file creation events in common browser extension directories on Windows systems.

The rule detects unusual outbound network connections made by rundll32.exe, specifically when executed with minimal arguments, which may indicate command and control activity or defense evasion tactics on Windows systems.

Adversaries can achieve persistence by abusing the Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) SetNotifyCmdLine method to execute a program after a job finishes, leading to arbitrary code execution and system compromise.

This rule detects potential abuse of the Microsoft Diagnostics Troubleshooting Wizard (MSDT) to proxy malicious command or binary execution via malicious process arguments on Windows systems.

The rule identifies unexpected executable file creation or modification by critical Windows processes, potentially indicating remote code execution or exploitation attempts.

This brief details a detection strategy for rare SMB connections originating from internal networks to the internet, potentially indicating NTLM credential theft via rogue UNC path injection.

This rule detects potential privilege escalation attempts on Linux systems by identifying processes running with root privileges but initiated by non-root users, indicative of SUID/SGID abuse.

Detects the execution of previously unseen remote monitoring and management (RMM) tools or remote access software on compromised Windows endpoints, often leveraged for command-and-control, persistence, and execution of malicious commands.

Detection of executable files created with multiple extensions, a masquerading technique to evade defenses.

Detects attempts to export sensitive Windows registry hives (SAM/SECURITY) using reg.exe, potentially leading to credential compromise.

Detects the renaming of automation script interpreter processes like AutoIt, AutoHotkey, and KIX32, a tactic used by malware operators to evade detection by obscuring the true nature of the executable.

This rule detects suspicious execution of scripts via WMIC, potentially used for allowlist bypass, by identifying WMIC executions with atypical arguments and the loading of specific libraries like jscript.dll or vbscript.dll for defense evasion and execution.

This rule detects potential ransomware behavior by identifying the creation of multiple files with the same name over SMB by the SYSTEM account, potentially indicating remote execution of ransomware dropping note files.

This rule detects the abuse of Windows Sandbox with sensitive configurations to evade detection, where malware may abuse the sandbox feature to gain write access to the host file system, enable network connections, and automatically execute commands via logon, identifying the start of a new container with these sensitive configurations.

Adversaries may load unsigned DLLs into svchost.exe to establish persistence or escalate privileges, leveraging a shared Windows service to execute malicious code with elevated permissions.

The rule identifies unusual outbound network connections on non-standard ports originating from web server processes on Linux systems, indicative of potential web shell activity or unauthorized communication.

The Microsoft Build Engine (MSBuild) being started by an Office application is unusual behavior and could indicate a malicious document executing a script payload for defense evasion.

The rule identifies when the SYSTEM account uses an account discovery utility, potentially indicating discovery activity after privilege escalation, focusing on utilities like whoami.exe and net1.exe executed under the SYSTEM account.

This detection rule identifies attempts to establish persistence on Windows systems by creating scheduled jobs in the Windows Tasks directory, excluding known legitimate jobs.

Detection of access attempts to the LSASS handle, indicating potential credential dumping by monitoring API calls (OpenProcess, OpenThread, ReadProcessMemory) targeting lsass.exe.

This rule detects suspicious child processes of WerFault.exe, a Windows error reporting tool, indicating potential abuse of the SilentProcessExit registry key to execute malicious processes stealthily for defense evasion, persistence, and privilege escalation.

Attackers abuse the Application Compatibility Shim functionality in Windows to establish persistence and achieve arbitrary code execution by installing malicious shim databases, which this detection identifies through monitoring registry changes.

Adversaries may exploit PDF reader applications to execute arbitrary commands and establish a foothold within a system, often launching built-in utilities for reconnaissance and privilege escalation.

This detection rule identifies downloaded .url shortcut files on Windows systems, often used in phishing campaigns, by monitoring their creation events and flagging those from non-local sources, enabling early threat detection.

This detection identifies unusual child processes of Service Host (svchost.exe) that traditionally do not spawn child processes, potentially indicating code injection or exploitation.

Attackers bypass User Account Control (UAC) by hijacking the DiskCleanup Scheduled Task to stealthily execute code with elevated permissions on Windows systems.

Attackers attempt to disable Windows Event and Security Logs using logman, PowerShell, or auditpol to evade detection and cover their tracks.

This rule identifies remote execution via Windows PowerShell remoting, which allows a user to run any Windows PowerShell command on one or more remote computers, potentially indicating lateral movement.

Adversaries may conceal malicious code in compiled HTML files (.chm) and deliver them to a victim for execution, using the HTML Help executable (hh.exe) to proxy the execution of scripting interpreters and bypass security controls.

This rule detects potentially malicious .lnk shortcut files downloaded from outside the local network on Windows systems, which are commonly used in phishing campaigns.

Adversaries may create symbolic links to shadow copies to access sensitive files such as ntds.dit and browser credentials, enabling credential dumping using cmd.exe or powershell.exe.

Detection of InstallUtil.exe making outbound network connections, which can indicate adversaries leveraging it to execute code and evade detection by proxying execution through a trusted system binary.

Attackers may attempt credential theft by launching browsers (Chrome, Edge) with remote debugging, headless automation, or minimal arguments from an unusual parent process on Windows systems.

This detection identifies the deletion of backup files by processes outside of the backup suite, specifically targeting Veritas and Veeam backups, which may indicate an attempt to prevent recovery from ransomware.

Adversaries may execute the `net.exe` or `wmic.exe` commands to enumerate administrator accounts or groups, both locally and within the domain, to gather information for follow-on actions.

This rule detects the creation of the default Mimikatz MemSSP credential log file, mimilsa.log, which is created after the misc::memssp module injects a malicious Security Support Provider into LSASS, potentially capturing credentials from subsequent logons.

This rule detects registry modifications indicative of a new Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) distribution installation, a technique adversaries may leverage to evade detection by utilizing Linux environments within Windows.

Adversaries may exploit MSBuild to execute malicious scripts or compile code, bypassing security controls; this rule detects unusual processes initiated by MSBuild, such as PowerShell or C# compiler, signaling potential misuse for executing unauthorized or harmful actions.

This rule identifies the use of bcdedit.exe to modify boot configuration data, which may be indicative of a destructive attack or ransomware activity aimed at inhibiting system recovery by disabling error recovery or ignoring boot failures.

Adversaries may delete Windows backup catalogs and system state backups using wbadmin.exe to inhibit system recovery, often as part of ransomware or other destructive attacks.

This rule detects suspicious execution of system enumeration commands by the Windows Management Instrumentation Provider Service (WMIPrvSE), indicating potential reconnaissance or malicious activity on Windows systems.

An adversary may attempt to bypass AMSI by creating a rogue AMSI DLL in an unusual location to evade detection.

Detects the execution of scripts via HTML applications using Windows utilities rundll32.exe or mshta.exe to bypass defenses by proxying execution of malicious content with signed binaries.

Detects remote access to the registry, potentially dumping credential data from the Security Account Manager (SAM) registry hive, indicating preparation for credential access and privilege elevation.

This analytic identifies suspicious programs such as script interpreters, rundll32, or MSBuild being executed shortly after user logon, indicating potential persistence mechanisms abusing the registry run keys.

This rule detects command and control (C2) communications that use common web services to hide malicious activity on Windows hosts by identifying network connections to commonly abused web services from processes outside of known legitimate program locations, indicating potential exfiltration or C2 activity blended with legitimate traffic.

Adversaries abuse the Console Window Host (conhost.exe) with the `--headless` argument to proxy execution of malicious commands, evading detection by blending in with legitimate Windows software.

Detection of adversaries disabling Windows Firewall rules using the `netsh.exe` command-line tool to weaken defenses and facilitate unauthorized network activity.

This rule identifies script engines creating files or the creation of script files in the Windows Startup folder, a persistence technique used by adversaries to automatically execute scripts upon user login.

Detection of PowerShell processes launched by cscript.exe or wscript.exe, indicative of potential malicious initial access or execution attempts.

Detection of command execution via proxy using the Windows OpenSSH client (ssh.exe or sftp.exe) to bypass application control using trusted Windows binaries.

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.

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.

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.

Adversaries may establish persistence by writing malicious files to the Windows Startup folder, allowing them to automatically execute upon user logon; this detection identifies suspicious processes creating files in these locations.

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.

This rule detects suspicious execution of Microsoft Office applications launching Office Add-Ins from unusual paths or with atypical parent processes, potentially indicating an attempt to gain initial access via a malicious phishing campaign.

The rule identifies the execution of a file created by the virtual system process, potentially indicating lateral movement via network file shares, by detecting a sequence of file creation/modification followed by process execution, excluding trusted vendors.

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.

Attackers may enable the deprecated Windows AT command via registry modification to achieve local persistence or lateral movement.

The modification of root certificates on Windows systems by unauthorized processes can allow attackers to masquerade malicious files as valid signed components and intercept/decrypt SSL traffic, leading to defense evasion and data collection.

Attackers can enable host network discovery via netsh.exe to weaken host firewall settings, facilitating lateral movement by identifying other systems on the network.

Attackers may disable the Windows firewall or its rules using the `Set-NetFirewallProfile` PowerShell cmdlet to enable lateral movement and command and control activity.

Adversaries may attempt to bypass Windows Defender's capabilities by using PowerShell to add exclusions for folders or processes, and this activity can be detected by monitoring PowerShell command lines that use `Add-MpPreference` or `Set-MpPreference` with exclusion parameters.

Attackers may establish persistence by modifying the ReflectDebugger registry key associated with Windows Error Reporting to execute arbitrary code when Werfault is invoked with the '-pr' parameter.

Adversaries may leverage unusual system utilities such as Microsoft.Workflow.Compiler.exe, bginfo.exe, cdb.exe, cmstp.exe, csi.exe, dnx.exe, fsi.exe, ieexec.exe, iexpress.exe, odbcconf.exe, rcsi.exe and xwizard.exe to execute code and evade detection, as identified by network connections originating from these processes.

Detection of processes modifying the Windows services registry key directly, potentially indicating stealthy persistence attempts via abnormal service creation or modification.

The detection rule identifies cmd.exe instances spawned by uncommon parent processes, such as lsass.exe, csrss.exe, or regsvr32.exe, which may indicate unauthorized or suspicious activity, thus aiding in early threat detection.

This threat brief details a UAC bypass technique leveraging the Internet Explorer Add-On Installer (ieinstal.exe) and Component Object Model (COM) to execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges.

The rule identifies the use of sc.exe to create, modify, or start services on remote hosts, potentially indicating lateral movement by adversaries.

Detection of unusual child processes spawned by SolarWinds processes may indicate malicious program execution, potentially bypassing security controls.

This rule identifies potentially suspicious processes, excluding those signed by Microsoft, making Server Message Block (SMB) network connections over port 445, which could indicate lateral movement attempts.

Detection of scrobj.dll loaded into unusual Microsoft processes indicates potential malicious scriptlet execution for defense evasion and execution by abusing legitimate system binaries.

This rule detects suspicious mofcomp.exe activity, which attackers may leverage MOF files to manipulate the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) repository for execution and persistence by filtering out legitimate processes and focusing on unusual executions, excluding known safe parent processes and system accounts.

Adversaries may modify the Windows Security Support Provider (SSP) configuration in the registry to establish persistence or evade defenses.

Detects suspicious execution of the Microsoft Antimalware Service Executable (MsMpEng.exe) from non-standard paths or renamed instances, which may indicate an attempt to evade defenses through DLL side-loading or masquerading.

This detection identifies the creation of HTML files with high entropy and large size, followed by execution via a browser process, indicating potential HTML smuggling and malicious payload delivery on Windows systems.

Adversaries may leverage the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) to execute malicious Linux commands, bypassing traditional Windows security measures, detected by monitoring process execution and command-line arguments.

This rule detects suspicious parent processes of endpoint security solutions such as Elastic Defend, Microsoft Defender, and SentinelOne, indicating potential process hollowing or code injection attempts to evade detection.

Attackers modify registry run keys or startup keys to achieve persistence by referencing a program that executes when a user logs in or the system boots.

A SolarWinds binary is modifying the start type of a service to be disabled via registry modification, potentially to disable or impair security services.

Detection of scheduled task creation by Windows scripting engines like cscript.exe, wscript.exe, or powershell.exe, used by adversaries to establish persistence on compromised systems.

Detects DNS queries to commonly abused remote monitoring and management (RMM) or remote access software domains from non-browser processes, potentially indicating unauthorized remote access or command and control activity.

This rule detects the execution of renamed utilities with a single-character process name, differing from the original filename, a common technique used by adversaries for staging, executing temporary utilities, or bypassing security detections.

The desktopimgdownldr utility can be abused to download remote files, potentially bypassing standard download restrictions and acting as an alternative to certutil for malware or tool deployment.

This rule detects remote file copy attempts to hidden network shares, which may indicate lateral movement or data staging activity, by identifying suspicious file copy operations using command-line tools like cmd.exe and powershell.exe focused on hidden share patterns.

Modification of the AppInit DLLs registry keys on Windows systems allows attackers to execute code in every process that loads user32.dll, establishing persistence and potentially escalating privileges.

Detection of registry modifications related to AppCert DLLs, a persistence mechanism where malicious DLLs are loaded by every process using common API functions.

An adversary may enable Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) access by modifying the `fDenyTSConnections` registry key, potentially indicating lateral movement preparation or defense evasion.

This rule identifies rare connection attempts to a Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV) resource, where attackers may inject WebDAV paths in files opened by a victim to leak NTLM credentials via forced authentication using rundll32.exe.

The rule identifies the use of PsExec.exe making a network connection, indicative of potential lateral movement by adversaries executing commands with SYSTEM privileges on Windows systems to disable defenses.

Adversaries may abuse Windows mandatory profiles by dropping a malicious NTUSER.MAN file containing pre-populated persistence-related registry keys to establish persistence, which can evade traditional registry-based monitoring.

Adversaries can abuse the Local Security Authority (LSA) authentication packages by modifying the Windows registry to achieve privilege escalation or persistence by executing binaries with SYSTEM privileges.

The rule identifies the creation or change of a Windows executable file over network shares, indicating potential lateral tool transfer via SMB, which adversaries may use to move tools between systems in a compromised environment.

Detection of multiple nslookup.exe executions with explicit query types from a single host, potentially indicating command and control activity via DNS tunneling, where attackers abuse DNS for data infiltration or exfiltration.

This rule detects the execution of known Windows utilities often abused to dump LSASS memory or the Active Directory database (NTDS.dit) in preparation for credential access by identifying specific command-line arguments and process names associated with credential dumping activities.

Adversaries can leverage Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) to establish persistence by creating event subscriptions that trigger malicious code execution when specific events occur, using tools like wmic.exe to create event consumers.

Attackers modify the NullSessionPipe registry setting in Windows to enable anonymous access to named pipes, potentially facilitating lateral movement and unauthorized access to network resources.

The rule detects the use of the Exchange PowerShell cmdlet, Set-CASMailbox, to add a new ActiveSync allowed device, potentially allowing attackers to gain persistent access to sensitive email data by adding unauthorized devices.

Mshta.exe making outbound network connections may indicate adversarial activity, as it is often used to execute malicious scripts and evade detection by proxying execution of untrusted code.

Adversaries are leveraging MSBuild, a Microsoft Build Engine, to execute malicious code by initiating it from system processes such as Explorer or WMI to evade defenses and execute unauthorized actions.

Adversaries may disable or tamper with Microsoft Defender features via registry modifications to evade detection and conceal malicious behavior on Windows systems.

Adversaries can use Living-Off-The-Land Binaries (LOLBINs) such as expand.exe, extrac32.exe, ieexec.exe, and makecab.exe to establish network connections, potentially bypassing security controls and facilitating malicious activities on Windows systems.

This rule detects incoming execution via Windows Remote Management (WinRM) remote shell on a target host, which could be an indication of lateral movement by monitoring network traffic on ports 5985 or 5986 and processes initiated by WinRM.

This rule detects file creation and modification on the host system from the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), potentially indicating defense evasion by adversaries.

Detection of the creation or modification of new Group Policy based scheduled tasks or services, which can be abused by attackers with domain admin permissions to execute malicious payloads remotely on domain-joined machines, leading to privilege escalation and persistence.

The rule identifies the load of previously unseen drivers, which may indicate attackers exploiting vulnerable drivers for privilege escalation and persistence.

This detection identifies attempts to execute programs from the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) to evade detection by flagging suspicious executions initiated by WSL processes and excluding known safe executables.

This rule detects the creation, modification, or deletion of DLL files within Windows SxS local folders, which could indicate an attempt to execute malicious payloads by abusing shared module loading.

This rule identifies the creation and subsequent execution of a Windows script downloaded from the internet, a technique used by adversaries for initial access and execution on Windows systems.

Detects process execution from removable media by an unusual process with untrusted code signature followed by network connection attempts, potentially indicating malware introduced via removable media for initial access.

Adversaries may use the New-MailboxExportRequest PowerShell cmdlet to export mailboxes in Exchange, potentially leading to sensitive information theft.

This rule detects registry write modifications hiding encoded portable executables, indicative of adversary defense evasion by avoiding storing malicious content directly on disk.

Adversaries may modify the RunAsPPL registry key to disable LSA protection, which prevents nonprotected processes from reading memory and injecting code, potentially leading to credential access.

Adversaries use WinRAR or 7-Zip with encryption options to compress and protect stolen data before exfiltration, making detection more challenging.

This threat brief details the detection of malicious Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) event subscriptions, a technique used by attackers for persistence and privilege escalation on Windows systems.

Adversaries may establish persistence by executing malicious content triggered by hijacked references to COM objects through Component Object Model (COM) hijacking via registry modification on Windows systems.

Adversaries use Unicode modifier letters to obfuscate command-line arguments, evading string-based detections on common Windows utilities like PowerShell and cmd.exe.

Adversaries may use the Windows forfiles utility to proxy command execution via a trusted parent process, potentially evading detection.

Detects the execution of ADExplorer, a tool used for Active Directory viewing and editing, which can be abused by adversaries for domain reconnaissance and creating offline snapshots of the AD database.

This rule identifies Windows programs run from unexpected parent processes, which could indicate masquerading or other strange activity on a system, potentially indicating process injection, masquerading, access token manipulation, or parent PID spoofing.

The execution of `rundll32.exe` without arguments, followed by a child process execution, indicates potential abuse of Rundll32 for proxy execution or payload handoff, often employed for defense evasion on Windows systems.

Detects suspicious PsExec activity where the PsExec service component is executed using a custom name, indicating an attempt to evade detections that look for the default PsExec service component name.

Attackers may abuse legitimate utilities such as TeamViewer to deploy malware interactively by remotely copying executable or script files during a TeamViewer session.

Attackers can establish persistence and evade defenses by modifying the Debugger and SilentProcessExit registry keys to perform Image File Execution Options (IFEO) injection, allowing them to intercept file executions and run malicious code.

An attacker with IIS server access can disable HTTP Logging using `appcmd.exe` to evade defenses and prevent forensic analysis, as detected by the execution of `appcmd.exe` with arguments to disable logging.

Detects the creation of .kirbi files, a suspicious Kerberos ticket artifact often produced by ticket export or dumping tools such as Rubeus or Mimikatz, indicating preparation for Kerberos ticket theft or Pass-The-Ticket (PTT) attacks.

This rule identifies remote scheduled task creations on a target Windows host, potentially indicating lateral movement by adversaries, by monitoring network connections and registry modifications related to task scheduling.

Adversaries can use attrib.exe to add the 'hidden' attribute to files to hide them from users and evade detection, which can be detected by monitoring process executions related to attrib.exe.

Adversaries may abuse control.exe to proxy execution of malicious code by using the Control Panel process to execute payloads from unusual locations, detected by identifying suspicious keywords or paths in the process command line.

Detection of newly seen removable devices via Windows registry modification events can indicate data exfiltration attempts or initial access via malicious USB drives.

A suspicious child process of the Windows virtual system process is detected, potentially indicating code injection and defense evasion.

The `unshare` command is used to create new namespaces in Linux, which can be exploited to break out of containers or elevate privileges by creating namespaces that bypass security controls.

This rule detects the creation of scheduled tasks on Windows systems by non-system accounts, a common technique used by adversaries for persistence, lateral movement, and privilege escalation.

Adversaries abuse the trusted status of explorer.exe to launch malicious scripts or executables, often using DCOM to start processes like PowerShell or cmd.exe, achieving initial access, defense evasion, and execution.

This alert identifies suspicious network connections initiated by the command prompt (cmd.exe) when executed with arguments indicative of script execution, remote resource access, or originating from Microsoft Office applications, which is a common tactic for downloading payloads or establishing command and control.

Adversaries may use unusual parent processes to execute .NET compilers for compiling malicious code after delivery, evading security mechanisms, and this activity is detected by monitoring compiler executions initiated by scripting engines or system utilities.

Detection of medium-sized registry hive files being created or modified on Server Message Block (SMB) shares, potentially indicating exfiltration of Security Account Manager (SAM) data for credential extraction.

Detection of Service Control (sc.exe) being spawned from script interpreter processes, such as PowerShell or cmd.exe, to create, modify, or start services, which may indicate privilege escalation or persistence attempts by an attacker.

This alert detects potential protocol tunneling activity via the execution of Yuze, a lightweight open-source tunneling tool often used by threat actors for intranet penetration via forward and reverse SOCKS5 proxy tunneling.

The detection rule identifies a potential credential access attempt via the trusted developer utility MSBuild by detecting instances where it loads DLLs associated with Windows credential management, specifically vaultcli.dll or SAMLib.DLL, which is often used for credential dumping.

Adversaries may use the `netsh.exe` utility to enable inbound Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) connections in the Windows Firewall, potentially allowing unauthorized remote access to compromised systems.

Adversaries may leverage the `net.exe` utility to mount WebDav or hidden remote shares, potentially indicating lateral movement, data exfiltration preparation, or initial access via discovery of accessible shares.

The rule detects attempts to modify the WDigest security provider in the registry to force the user's password to be stored in clear text in memory, which could lead to credential dumping.

Attackers masquerade malicious executables as legitimate business application installers to trick users into downloading and executing malware, leveraging defense evasion and initial access techniques.

This rule identifies the creation of LSASS memory dump files, often indicative of credential access attempts using tools like Task Manager, SQLDumper, Dumpert, or AndrewSpecial, by monitoring for specific filenames and excluding legitimate dump locations.

A high number of process terminations (stop, delete, or suspend) from the same Windows host within a short time period may indicate malicious activity such as an attacker attempting to disable security measures or prepare for ransomware deployment.

This rule detects the creation or execution of files or processes with names containing the Right-to-Left Override (RTLO) character, which can be used to disguise the file extension and trick users into executing malicious files on Windows systems.

Attackers may disable User Account Control (UAC) by modifying specific registry values, allowing them to execute code with elevated privileges, bypass security restrictions, and potentially escalate privileges on Windows systems.

Adversaries may attempt to install or use Kali Linux via Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) to avoid detection, potentially enabling them to perform malicious activities within a Windows environment while blending in with legitimate WSL usage.

Adversaries may execute malicious code from Alternate Data Streams (ADS) on Windows to evade defenses by hiding malware within legitimate files, which this detection identifies by monitoring process execution paths and arguments.

Detection of creation or modification of Domain Backup private keys, which adversaries may extract from a Domain Controller (DC) to decrypt domain user master key files.

Attackers may modify the Windows registry to disable code signing policy, allowing the execution of unsigned or self-signed malicious code, thereby bypassing security controls and enabling defense evasion.

The execution of AdFind.exe, an Active Directory query tool, is often used by threat actors for post-exploitation Active Directory reconnaissance, as observed in campaigns involving Trickbot, Ryuk, Maze, and FIN6.

Adversaries may abuse Xwizard, a Windows system binary, to execute Component Object Model (COM) objects created in the registry to evade defensive countermeasures by proxying execution through a legitimate system tool.

Detection of suspicious child processes spawned by Microsoft Outlook, indicative of spear phishing and malicious file execution leading to potential initial access and further exploitation.

Detects copy operations of Active Directory Domain Database (ntds.dit) or Security Account Manager (SAM) files, potentially exposing sensitive hashed credentials on Windows systems.