Msiexec Quiet Installation

 1title: Msiexec Quiet Installation
 2id: 79a87aa6-e4bd-42fc-a5bb-5e6fbdcd62f5
 3status: test
 4description: |
 5    Adversaries may abuse msiexec.exe to proxy execution of malicious payloads.
 6    Msiexec.exe is the command-line utility for the Windows Installer and is thus commonly associated with executing installation packages (.msi)    
 7references:
 8    - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/msiexec
 9    - https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/f339e7da7d05f6057fdfcdd3742bfcf365fee2a9/atomics/T1218.007/T1218.007.md
10    - https://twitter.com/_st0pp3r_/status/1583914244344799235
11author: frack113
12date: 2022-01-16
13modified: 2026-07-28
14tags:
15    - attack.stealth
16    - attack.t1218.007
17logsource:
18    category: process_creation
19    product: windows
20detection:
21    selection_img:
22        - Image|endswith: '\msiexec.exe'
23        - OriginalFileName: 'msiexec.exe'
24    selection_cli:
25        # Note that there is no space before and after the arguments because it's possible to write a commandline as such
26        # Example: msiexec -q/i [MSI Package]
27        CommandLine|contains|windash:
28            - '-i'
29            - '-package'
30            - '-a'
31            - '-j'
32    selection_quiet:
33        CommandLine|contains|windash: '-q'
34    filter_main_system_temp:
35        ParentImage|startswith: 'C:\Windows\Temp\'
36    filter_main_ccm:
37        ParentImage: 'C:\Windows\CCM\Ccm32BitLauncher.exe'
38        IntegrityLevel:
39            - 'System'
40            - 'S-1-16-16384'
41    filter_optional_user_temp:
42        # The %temp% is a very common location for installers
43        ParentImage|startswith: 'C:\Users\'
44        ParentImage|contains: '\AppData\Local\Temp\'
45    filter_optional_wsl:
46        # C:\WINDOWS\system32\msiexec.exe /quiet /i "C:\Users\xodih\AppData\Local\Temp\wsl.2.6.3.0.arm64 (2).msi" SKIPVALIDATION=1 /L*V C:\Users\xodih\AppData\Local\Temp\wsl-install-logs.txt
47        ParentImage|endswith: 'C:\Windows\System32\wsl.exe'
48        Image|endswith: 'C:\Windows\System32\msiexec.exe'
49    condition: all of selection_* and not 1 of filter_main_* and not 1 of filter_optional_*
50falsepositives:
51    - WindowsApps installing updates via the quiet flag
52level: medium