ID | Technique | Tactic |
---|---|---|
T1218 | System Binary Proxy Execution | Defense Evasion |
T1218.003 | CMSTP | Defense Evasion |
Detection: Wbemprox COM Object Execution
Description
The following analytic detects a suspicious process loading a COM object from wbemprox.dll, fastprox.dll, or wbemcomn.dll. It leverages Sysmon EventCode 7 to identify instances where these DLLs are loaded by processes not typically associated with them, excluding known legitimate processes and directories. This activity is significant as it may indicate an attempt by threat actors to abuse COM objects for privilege escalation or evasion of detection mechanisms. If confirmed malicious, this could allow attackers to gain elevated privileges or maintain persistence within the environment, posing a significant security risk.
Search
1`sysmon` EventCode=7 ImageLoaded IN ("*\\fastprox.dll", "*\\wbemprox.dll", "*\\wbemcomn.dll") NOT (process_name IN ("wmiprvse.exe", "WmiApSrv.exe", "unsecapp.exe")) NOT(Image IN("*\\windows\\*","*\\program files*", "*\\wbem\\*"))
2| stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime by Image ImageLoaded process_name dest EventCode Signed ProcessId Hashes IMPHASH
3| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
4| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
5| `wbemprox_com_object_execution_filter`
Data Source
Name | Platform | Sourcetype | Source | Supported App |
---|---|---|---|---|
Sysmon EventID 7 | Windows | 'xmlwineventlog' |
'XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational' |
N/A |
Macros Used
Name | Value |
---|---|
security_content_ctime | convert timeformat="%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S" ctime($field$) |
wbemprox_com_object_execution_filter | search * |
wbemprox_com_object_execution_filter
is an empty macro by default. It allows the user to filter out any results (false positives) without editing the SPL.
Annotations
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 |
Implementation
To successfully implement this search, you need to be ingesting logs with the process name and imageloaded executions from your endpoints. If you are using Sysmon, you must have at least version 6.0.4 of the Sysmon TA.
Known False Positives
legitimate process that are not in the exception list may trigger this event.
Associated Analytic Story
Risk Based Analytics (RBA)
Risk Message | Risk Score | Impact | Confidence |
---|---|---|---|
Suspicious COM Object Execution on $dest$ | 35 | 70 | 50 |
References
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: 2