Execution via local SxS Shared Module

 1[metadata]
 2creation_date = "2020/10/28"
 3integration = ["endpoint", "windows", "m365_defender", "sentinel_one_cloud_funnel"]
 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 the creation, change, or deletion of a DLL module within a Windows SxS local folder. Adversaries may abuse
13shared modules to execute malicious payloads by instructing the Windows module loader to load DLLs from arbitrary local
14paths.
15"""
16from = "now-9m"
17index = ["winlogbeat-*", "logs-endpoint.events.file-*", "logs-windows.sysmon_operational-*", "endgame-*", "logs-m365_defender.event-*", "logs-sentinel_one_cloud_funnel.*"]
18language = "eql"
19license = "Elastic License v2"
20name = "Execution via local SxS Shared Module"
21note = """## Triage and analysis
22
23The SxS DotLocal folder is a legitimate feature that can be abused to hijack standard modules loading order by forcing an executable on the same application.exe.local folder to load a malicious DLL module from the same directory.
24"""
25references = ["https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/dlls/dynamic-link-library-redirection"]
26risk_score = 47
27rule_id = "a3ea12f3-0d4e-4667-8b44-4230c63f3c75"
28severity = "medium"
29tags = [
30    "Domain: Endpoint",
31    "OS: Windows",
32    "Use Case: Threat Detection",
33    "Tactic: Execution",
34    "Data Source: Elastic Endgame",
35    "Data Source: Elastic Defend",
36    "Data Source: Sysmon",
37    "Data Source: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint",
38    "Data Source: SentinelOne",
39]
40timestamp_override = "event.ingested"
41type = "eql"
42
43query = '''
44file where host.os.type == "windows" and file.extension : "dll" and file.path : "C:\\*\\*.exe.local\\*.dll"
45'''
46
47
48[[rule.threat]]
49framework = "MITRE ATT&CK"
50[[rule.threat.technique]]
51id = "T1129"
52name = "Shared Modules"
53reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1129/"
54
55
56[rule.threat.tactic]
57id = "TA0002"
58name = "Execution"
59reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0002/"