Privilege Escalation via Windir Environment Variable
editPrivilege Escalation via Windir Environment Variable
editIdentifies a privilege escalation attempt via a rogue Windows directory (Windir) environment variable. This is a known primitive that is often combined with other vulnerabilities to elevate privileges.
Rule type: eql
Rule indices:
- logs-endpoint.events.*
Severity: high
Risk score: 73
Runs every: 5m
Searches indices from: now-9m (Date Math format, see also Additional look-back time)
Maximum alerts per execution: 100
References:
Tags:
- Elastic
- Host
- Windows
- Threat Detection
- Privilege Escalation
Version: 4
Rule authors:
- Elastic
Rule license: Elastic License v2
Rule query
editregistry where registry.path : ("HKEY_USERS\\*\\Environment\\windir", "HKEY_USERS\\*\\Environment\\systemroot") and
not registry.data.strings : ("C:\\windows", "%SystemRoot%")
Framework: MITRE ATT&CKTM
-
Tactic:
- Name: Privilege Escalation
- ID: TA0004
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0004/
-
Technique:
- Name: Hijack Execution Flow
- ID: T1574
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1574/
-
Sub-technique:
- Name: Path Interception by PATH Environment Variable
- ID: T1574.007
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1574/007/