Suspicious Execution from a Mounted Device

edit

Identifies when a script interpreter or signed binary is launched via a non-standard working directory. An attacker may use this technique to evade defenses.

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:

Tags:

  • Elastic
  • Host
  • Windows
  • Threat Detection
  • Defense Evasion

Version: 101

Rule authors:

  • Elastic

Rule license: Elastic License v2

Investigation guide

edit

Rule query

edit
process where event.type == "start" and process.executable : "C:\\*" and
  (process.working_directory : "?:\\" and not process.working_directory: "C:\\") and
  process.parent.name : "explorer.exe" and
  process.name : ("rundll32.exe", "mshta.exe", "powershell.exe", "pwsh.exe", "cmd.exe", "regsvr32.exe",
                  "cscript.exe", "wscript.exe")

Framework: MITRE ATT&CKTM