Suspicious Process Executed From Container File

Description

The following analytic identifies a suspicious process executed from within common container/archive file types such as ZIP, ISO, IMG, and others. It leverages data from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents, focusing on process names and command-line executions. This activity is significant as it is a common technique used by adversaries to execute scripts or evade defenses. If confirmed malicious, this behavior could allow attackers to execute arbitrary code, escalate privileges, or persist within the environment, posing a significant security risk.

Type: TTP
Product: Splunk Enterprise, Splunk Enterprise Security, Splunk Cloud
Datamodel: Endpoint
Last Updated: 2024-05-09
Author: Steven Dick
ID: d8120352-3b62-411c-8cb6-7b47584dd5e8

Annotations

ATT&CK

ID	Technique	Tactic
T1204.002	Malicious File	Execution

T1036.008

Masquerade File Type

Defense Evasion

Kill Chain Phase

Installation
Exploitation

NIST

DE.CM

CIS20

CIS 10

CVE

Search

| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count values(Processes.process_name) as process_name min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime from datamodel=Endpoint.Processes where Processes.process IN ("*.ZIP\\*","*.ISO\\*","*.IMG\\*","*.CAB\\*","*.TAR\\*","*.GZ\\*","*.RAR\\*","*.7Z\\*") AND Processes.action="allowed" by Processes.dest Processes.parent_process Processes.process Processes.user
| `drop_dm_object_name(Processes)`
| regex process="(?i).*(ZIP
|ISO
|IMG
|CAB
|TAR
|GZ
|RAR
|7Z)\\\\.+\.(BAT
|BIN
|CAB
|CMD
|COM
|CPL
|EX_
|EXE
|GADGET
|INF1
|INS
|INX
|
|HTM
|HTML
|ISU
|JAR
|JOB
|JS
|JSE
|LNK
|MSC
|MSI
|MSP
|MST
|PAF
|PIF
|PS1
|REG
|RGS
|SCR
|SCT
|SHB
|SHS
|U3P
|VB
|VBE
|VBS
|VBSCRIPT
|WS
|WSF
|WSH)\"?$" 
| rex field=process "(?i).+\\\\(?<file_name>[^\\\]+\.(ZIP
|ISO
|IMG
|CAB
|TAR
|GZ
|RAR
|7Z))\\\\((.+\\\\)+)?(?<process_name>.+\.(BAT
|BIN
|CAB
|CMD
|COM
|CPL
|EX_
|EXE
|GADGET
|INF1
|INS
|INX
|
|HTM
|HTML
|ISU
|JAR
|JOB
|JS
|JSE
|LNK
|MSC
|MSI
|MSP
|MST
|PAF
|PIF
|PS1
|REG
|RGS
|SCR
|SCT
|SHB
|SHS
|U3P
|VB
|VBE
|VBS
|VBSCRIPT
|WS
|WSF
|WSH))\"?$"
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` 
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` 
| `suspicious_process_executed_from_container_file_filter`

Macros

The SPL above uses the following Macros:

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

Required fields

List of fields required to use this analytic.

_time
Processes.dest
Processes.parent_process
Processes.process
Processes.user

How To Implement

The detection is based on data that originates from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents. These agents are designed to provide security-related telemetry from the endpoints where the agent is installed. To implement this search, you must ingest logs that contain the process GUID, process name, and parent process. Additionally, you must ingest complete command-line executions. These logs must be processed using the appropriate Splunk Technology Add-ons that are specific to the EDR product. The logs must also be mapped to the Processes node of the Endpoint data model. Use the Splunk Common Information Model (CIM) to normalize the field names and speed up the data modeling process.

Known False Positives

Various business process or userland applications and behavior.

Associated Analytic Story

RBA

Risk Score	Impact	Confidence	Message
16.0	80	20	A suspicious process $process_name$ was launched from $file_name$ on $dest$.

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

Reference

Test Dataset

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 | version: 2

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