Detection: Windows Snake Malware Registry Modification wav OpenWithProgIds

Updated Date: 2024-09-30 ID: 13cf8b79-805d-443c-bf52-f55bd7610dfd Author: Michael Haag, Splunk Type: TTP Product: Splunk Enterprise Security

Description

The following analytic identifies modifications to the registry path .wav\OpenWithProgIds, associated with the Snake Malware campaign. It leverages data from the Endpoint.Registry datamodel to detect changes in this specific registry location. This activity is significant because Snake's WerFault.exe uses this registry path to decrypt an encrypted blob containing critical components like the AES key, IV, and paths for its kernel driver and loader. If confirmed malicious, this could allow the attacker to load and execute Snake's kernel driver, leading to potential system compromise and persistent access.

Search

1
2| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count values(Registry.registry_key_name) as registry_key_name values(Registry.registry_path) as registry_path min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime from datamodel=Endpoint.Registry where Registry.registry_path="*\\.wav\\OpenWithProgIds\\*"  by Registry.dest  Registry.user Registry.registry_path Registry.registry_key_name Registry.registry_value_name 
3| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` 
4| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` 
5| `drop_dm_object_name(Registry)` 
6| `windows_snake_malware_registry_modification_wav_openwithprogids_filter`

Data Source

Name	Platform	Sourcetype	Source
Sysmon EventID 12	Windows	`'xmlwineventlog'`	`'XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational'`
Sysmon EventID 13	Windows	`'xmlwineventlog'`	`'XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational'`

Macros Used

Name	Value
security_content_ctime	`convert timeformat="%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S" ctime($field$)`
windows_snake_malware_registry_modification_wav_openwithprogids_filter	`search *`

windows_snake_malware_registry_modification_wav_openwithprogids_filter is an empty macro by default. It allows the user to filter out any results (false positives) without editing the SPL.

Annotations

- MITRE ATT&CK

+ Kill Chain Phases

+ NIST

+ CIS

- Threat Actors

ID	Technique	Tactic
T1112	Modify Registry	Defense Evasion

KillChainPhase.EXPLOITAITON

NistCategory.DE_CM

Cis18Value.CIS_10

APT19

APT32

APT38

APT41

Aquatic Panda

Blue Mockingbird

Dragonfly

Earth Lusca

Ember Bear

FIN8

Gamaredon Group

Gorgon Group

Indrik Spider

Kimsuky

LuminousMoth

Magic Hound

Patchwork

Saint Bear

Silence

TA505

Threat Group-3390

Turla

Volt Typhoon

Wizard Spider

Default Configuration

This detection is configured by default in Splunk Enterprise Security to run with the following settings:

Setting	Value
Disabled	true
Cron Schedule	`0 * * * *`
Earliest Time	`-70m@m`
Latest Time	`-10m@m`
Schedule Window	`auto`
Creates Notable	Yes
Rule Title	`%name%`
Rule Description	`%description%`
Notable Event Fields	user, dest
Creates Risk Event	True

This configuration file applies to all detections of type TTP. These detections will use Risk Based Alerting and generate Notable Events.

Implementation

To successfully implement this search you need to be ingesting information on process that include the name of the process responsible for the changes from your endpoints into the Endpoint datamodel in the Registry node. In addition, confirm the latest CIM App 4.20 or higher is installed and the latest TA for the endpoint product.

Known False Positives

False positives may be present and will require tuning based on program Ids in large organizations.

Associated Analytic Story

Snake Malware

Risk Based Analytics (RBA)

Risk Message	Risk Score	Impact	Confidence
A registry modification related to Snake Malware has been identified on $dest$.	25	50	50

The Risk Score is calculated by the following formula: Risk Score = (Impact * Confidence/100). Initial Confidence and Impact is set by the analytic author.

References

https://media.defense.gov/2023/May/09/2003218554/-1/-1/0/JOINT_CSA_HUNTING_RU_INTEL_SNAKE_MALWARE_20230509.PDF

Detection Testing

Test Type	Status	Dataset	Source	Sourcetype
Validation	✅ Passing	N/A	N/A	N/A
Unit	✅ Passing	Dataset	`XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational`	`XmlWinEventLog`
Integration	✅ Passing	Dataset	`XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational`	`XmlWinEventLog`

Replay any dataset to Splunk Enterprise by using our replay.py tool or the UI. Alternatively you can replay a dataset into a Splunk Attack Range

Source: GitHub | Version: 3