Registry Persistence via AppCert DLL

Detects attempts to maintain persistence by creating registry keys using AppCert DLLs. AppCert DLLs are loaded by every process using the common API functions to create processes.

Rule type: eql

Rule indices:

winlogbeat-*
logs-endpoint.events.registry-*
logs-windows.sysmon_operational-*
endgame-*
logs-sentinel_one_cloud_funnel.*
logs-m365_defender.event-*

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:

Domain: Endpoint
OS: Windows
Use Case: Threat Detection
Tactic: Persistence
Tactic: Privilege Escalation
Data Source: Elastic Endgame
Data Source: Elastic Defend
Data Source: Sysmon
Data Source: SentinelOne
Data Source: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Version: 412

Rule authors:

Elastic

Rule license: Elastic License v2

Setup

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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 version 8.2. Hence for this rule to work effectively, users will need to add a custom ingest pipeline to populate event.ingested to @timestamp. For more details on adding a custom ingest pipeline refer - https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/fleet/current/data-streams-pipeline-tutorial.html

Rule query

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registry where host.os.type == "windows" and event.type == "change" and
  registry.path : (
    "HKLM\\SYSTEM\\*ControlSet*\\Control\\Session Manager\\AppCertDLLs\\*",
    "\\REGISTRY\\MACHINE\\SYSTEM\\*ControlSet*\\Control\\Session Manager\\AppCertDLLs\\*",
    "MACHINE\\SYSTEM\\*ControlSet*\\Control\\Session Manager\\AppCertDLLs\\*"
  )

Framework: MITRE ATT&CK^TM

Tactic:
- Name: Persistence
- ID: TA0003
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0003/
Technique:
- Name: Event Triggered Execution
- ID: T1546
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1546/
Sub-technique:
- Name: AppCert DLLs
- ID: T1546.009
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1546/009/
Tactic:
- Name: Privilege Escalation
- ID: TA0004
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0004/
Technique:
- Name: Event Triggered Execution
- ID: T1546
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1546/
Sub-technique:
- Name: AppCert DLLs
- ID: T1546.009
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1546/009/

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