A newer version is available. For the latest information, see the
current release documentation.
Program Files Directory Masquerading
editProgram Files Directory Masquerading
editIdentifies execution from a directory masquerading as the Windows Program Files directories. These paths are trusted and usually host trusted third party programs. An adversary may leverage masquerading, along with low privileges to bypass detections allowlisting those folders.
Rule type: eql
Rule indices:
- winlogbeat-*
- logs-endpoint.events.*
- logs-windows.*
Severity: medium
Risk score: 47
Runs every: 5m
Searches indices from: now-9m (Date Math format, see also Additional look-back time
)
Maximum alerts per execution: 100
References: None
Tags:
- Elastic
- Host
- Windows
- Threat Detection
- Defense Evasion
Version: 10
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
editprocess where event.type == "start" and process.executable : "C:\\*Program*Files*\\*.exe" and not process.executable : ("C:\\Program Files\\*.exe", "C:\\Program Files (x86)\\*.exe", "C:\\Users\\*.exe", "C:\\ProgramData\\*.exe")
Framework: 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/
-
Sub-technique:
- Name: Match Legitimate Name or Location
- ID: T1036.005
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1036/005/