Installation of Custom Shim Databases

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Identifies the installation of custom Application Compatibility Shim databases. This Windows functionality has been abused by attackers to stealthily gain persistence and arbitrary code execution in legitimate Windows processes.

Rule type: eql

Rule indices:

  • logs-endpoint.events.*
  • winlogbeat-*
  • 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
  • Persistence

Version: 100

Rule authors:

  • Elastic

Rule license: Elastic License v2

Rule query

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sequence by process.entity_id with maxspan = 5m
  [process where event.type in ("start", "process_started") and
    not (process.name : "sdbinst.exe" and process.parent.name : "msiexec.exe")]
  [registry where event.type in ("creation", "change") and
    registry.path : "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\AppCompatFlags\\Custom\\*.sdb"]

Framework: MITRE ATT&CKTM