Network Connection via MsXsl

 1[metadata]
 2creation_date = "2020/03/18"
 3integration = ["endpoint", "windows"]
 4maturity = "production"
 5updated_date = "2024/10/15"
 6min_stack_version = "8.14.0"
 7min_stack_comments = "Breaking change at 8.14.0 for the Windows Integration."
 8
 9[rule]
10author = ["Elastic"]
11description = """
12Identifies msxsl.exe making a network connection. This may indicate adversarial activity as msxsl.exe is often leveraged
13by adversaries to execute malicious scripts and evade detection.
14"""
15from = "now-9m"
16index = [
17    "winlogbeat-*",
18    "logs-endpoint.events.process-*",
19    "logs-endpoint.events.network-*",
20    "logs-windows.sysmon_operational-*",
21]
22language = "eql"
23license = "Elastic License v2"
24name = "Network Connection via MsXsl"
25references = ["https://www.iana.org/assignments/iana-ipv4-special-registry/iana-ipv4-special-registry.xhtml"]
26risk_score = 21
27rule_id = "b86afe07-0d98-4738-b15d-8d7465f95ff5"
28severity = "low"
29tags = [
30    "Domain: Endpoint",
31    "OS: Windows",
32    "Use Case: Threat Detection",
33    "Tactic: Defense Evasion",
34    "Data Source: Elastic Defend",
35    "Data Source: Sysmon",
36]
37type = "eql"
38
39query = '''
40sequence by process.entity_id
41  [process where host.os.type == "windows" and process.name : "msxsl.exe" and event.type == "start"]
42  [network where host.os.type == "windows" and process.name : "msxsl.exe" and
43     not cidrmatch(destination.ip, "10.0.0.0/8", "127.0.0.0/8", "169.254.0.0/16", "172.16.0.0/12", "192.0.0.0/24",
44       "192.0.0.0/29", "192.0.0.8/32", "192.0.0.9/32", "192.0.0.10/32", "192.0.0.170/32", "192.0.0.171/32",
45       "192.0.2.0/24", "192.31.196.0/24", "192.52.193.0/24", "192.168.0.0/16", "192.88.99.0/24", "224.0.0.0/4",
46       "100.64.0.0/10", "192.175.48.0/24","198.18.0.0/15", "198.51.100.0/24", "203.0.113.0/24", "240.0.0.0/4", "::1",
47       "FE80::/10", "FF00::/8")]
48'''
49
50
51[[rule.threat]]
52framework = "MITRE ATT&CK"
53[[rule.threat.technique]]
54id = "T1220"
55name = "XSL Script Processing"
56reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1220/"
57
58
59[rule.threat.tactic]
60id = "TA0005"
61name = "Defense Evasion"
62reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0005/"