Detects usage of "IMEWDBLD.exe" to download arbitrary files

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Detects usage of "msedge_proxy.exe" to download arbitrary files

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Detects the usage of the "Squirrel.exe" to download arbitrary files. This binary is part of multiple Electron based software installations (Slack, Teams, Discord, etc.)

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Detects usage of the "ms-appinstaller" protocol handler via command line to potentially download arbitrary files via AppInstaller.EXE The downloaded files are temporarly stored in ":\Users%username%\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_8wekyb3d8bbwe\AC\INetCache<RANDOM-8-CHAR-DIRECTORY>"

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Detects the usage of the "Squirrel.exe" binary to execute arbitrary processes. This binary is part of multiple Electron based software installations (Slack, Teams, Discord, etc.)

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Detects uncommon or suspicious child processes spawning from a VsCode "code.exe" process. This could indicate an attempt of persistence via VsCode tasks or terminal profiles.

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Detects sdiagnhost.exe calling a suspicious child process (e.g. used in exploits for Follina / CVE-2022-30190)

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Detects the execution of Xwizard tool with the "RunWizard" flag and a GUID like argument. This utility can be abused in order to run custom COM object created in the registry.

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Detects the execution of "DXCap.EXE" with the "-c" flag, which allows a user to launch any arbitrary binary or windows package through DXCap itself. This can be abused to potentially bypass application whitelisting.

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Detect usage of the "coregen.exe" (Microsoft CoreCLR Native Image Generator) binary to sideload arbitrary DLLs.

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Detect usage of the "ssh.exe" binary as a proxy to launch other programs.

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Detects the execution of the "chflags" utility with the "hidden" flag, in order to hide files on MacOS. When a file or directory has this hidden flag set, it becomes invisible to the default file listing commands and in graphical file browsers.

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Detects execution of "Diskshadow.exe" in script mode using the "/s" flag where the script is located in a potentially suspicious location.

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Attackers can use print.exe for remote file copy

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Detects execution of the Add-In deployment cache updating utility (AddInutil.exe) from a non-standard directory.

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Detects execution of the AgentExecutor.exe binary. Which can be abused as a LOLBIN to execute powershell scripts with the ExecutionPolicy "Bypass" or any binary named "powershell.exe" located in the path provided by 6th positional argument

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Detects execution of arbitrary DLLs or unsigned code via a ".csproj" files via Dotnet.EXE.

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Detects usage of "MSOHTMED" to download arbitrary files

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Detects usage of "MSPUB" (Microsoft Publisher) to download arbitrary files

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Detects usage of "PresentationHost" which is a utility that runs ".xbap" (Browser Applications) files to download arbitrary files

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Detects a certain command line flag combination used by "devinit.exe", which can be abused as a LOLBIN to download arbitrary MSI packages on a Windows system

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Detects creation/modification of Assistive Technology applications and persistence with usage of 'at'

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Detects commandline arguments for executing a child process via dotnet-trace.exe

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Detects the execution of "BitLockerToGo.EXE". BitLocker To Go is BitLocker Drive Encryption on removable data drives. This feature includes the encryption of, USB flash drives, SD cards, External hard disk drives, Other drives that are formatted by using the NTFS, FAT16, FAT32, or exFAT file system. This is a rarely used application and usage of it at all is worth investigating. Malware such as Lumma stealer has been seen using this process as a target for process hollowing.

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This rule detects suspicious files created by Microsoft Sync Center (mobsync)

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Adversaries can use curl to download payloads remotely and execute them. Curl is included by default in Windows 10 build 17063 and later.

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Detects the execution of DeviceCredentialDeployment to hide a process from view

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The Devtoolslauncher.exe executes other binary

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Detects execution of "Diskshadow.exe" in script mode to execute an script with a potentially uncommon extension. Initial baselining of the allowed extension list is required.

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Detects using Rasautou.exe for loading arbitrary .DLL specified in -d option and executes the export specified in -p.

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Detects when a user installs certificates by using CertOC.exe to loads the target DLL file.

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Detects file execution using the msdeploy.exe lolbin

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Detects execution of "msdt.exe" using an answer file which is simulating the legitimate way of calling msdt via "pcwrun.exe" (For example from the compatibility tab)

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Detects indirect command execution via Program Compatibility Assistant "pcwrun.exe" leveraging the follina (CVE-2022-30190) vulnerability

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This rule detects that the path to the DLL written in the registry is different from the default one. Launched WAB.exe tries to load the DLL from Registry.

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Detects the use of stordiag.exe to execute schtasks.exe systeminfo.exe and fltmc.exe

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Detects using WorkFolders.exe to execute an arbitrary control.exe

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Detects usage of "ProtocolHandler" to download files. Downloaded files will be located in the cache folder (for example - %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\IE)

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Detects use of .NET InstallUtil.exe in order to download arbitrary files. The files will be written to "%LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\IE"

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Detects the use of Windows Defender MpCmdRun.EXE to download files

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Detects the execution of the LOLBIN gpscript, which executes logon or startup scripts configured in Group Policy

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Detects a suspicious child process of a Microsoft HTML Help (HH.exe)

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Detect use of ie4uinit.exe to execute commands from a specially prepared ie4uinit.inf file from a directory other than the usual directories

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Detects the execution of "Ldifde.exe" with the import flag "-i". The can be abused to include HTTP-based arguments which will allow the arbitrary download of files from a remote server.

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Detect indirect command execution via Program Compatibility Assistant pcwrun.exe

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Executes SCT script using scrobj.dll from a command in entered into a specially prepared INF file.

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Detects execution of findstr with the "s" and "i" flags for a "subfolder" and "insensitive" search respectively. Attackers sometimes leverage this built-in utility to search the system for interesting files or filter through results of commands.

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Detects programs on a Windows system that should not write an archive to disk

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Detects programs on a Windows system that should not write executables to disk

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Detects programs on a Windows system that should not write scripts to disk

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Detect usage of the "runexehelper.exe" binary as a proxy to launch other programs

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Detect usage of the "unregmp2.exe" binary as a proxy to launch a custom version of "wmpnscfg.exe"

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There is an option for a MS VS Just-In-Time Debugger "vsjitdebugger.exe" to launch specified executable and attach a debugger. This option may be used adversaries to execute malicious code by signed verified binary. The debugger is installed alongside with Microsoft Visual Studio package.

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Windows Test Authoring and Execution Framework (TAEF) framework allows you to run automation by executing tests files written on different languages (C, C#, Microsoft COM Scripting interfaces Adversaries may execute malicious code (such as WSC file with VBScript, dll and so on) directly by running te.exe

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Detects suspicious connections from Microsoft Sync Center to non-private IPs.

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Detects a certain command line flag combination used by mpiexec.exe LOLBIN from HPC pack that can be used to execute any other binary

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Detects installation of a remote msi file from web.

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Detects a network connection initiated by the Add-In deployment cache updating utility "AddInutil.exe". This could indicate a potential command and control communication as this tool doesn't usually initiate network activity.

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The OpenWith.exe executes other binary

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Detects the execution of Dnx.EXE. The Dnx utility allows for the execution of C# code. Attackers might abuse this in order to bypass application whitelisting.

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Detects execution of Cmdl32 with the "/vpn" and "/lan" flags. Attackers can abuse this utility in order to download arbitrary files via a configuration file. Inspect the location and the content of the file passed as an argument in order to determine if it is suspicious.

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Detects binaries that use the same name as legitimate sysinternals tools to evade detection

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Detects usage of "cdb.exe" to launch arbitrary processes or commands from a debugger script file

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Detects execution of "VSDiagnostics.exe" with the "start" command in order to launch and proxy arbitrary binaries.

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Detects execution of known compromised version of 3CXDesktopApp

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Detects the 3CXDesktopApp updater downloading a known compromised version of the 3CXDesktopApp software

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Detects specific process behavior observed with Devil Bait samples

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Detects execution of Windows Defender "OfflineScannerShell.exe" from its non standard directory. The "OfflineScannerShell.exe" binary is vulnerable to DLL side loading and will load any DLL named "mpclient.dll" from the current working directory.

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Detects possible NTLM coercion via certutil using the 'syncwithWU' flag

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Detects possible password spraying attempts using Dsacls

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Detects the execution of concatenated commands via "cmd.exe". Pikabot often executes a combination of multiple commands via the command handler "cmd /c" in order to download and execute additional payloads. Commands such as "curl", "wget" in order to download extra payloads. "ping" and "timeout" are abused to introduce delays in the command execution and "Rundll32" is also used to execute malicious DLL files. In the observed Pikabot infections, a combination of the commands described above are used to orchestrate the download and execution of malicious DLL files.

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Detects potential abuse of the provisioning registry key for indirect command execution through "Provlaunch.exe".

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Detects potential abuse of the provisioning registry key for indirect command execution through "Provlaunch.exe".

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Detects child processes of "provlaunch.exe" which might indicate potential abuse to proxy execution.

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Detects potential abuse of the "register_app.vbs" script that is part of the Windows SDK. The script offers the capability to register new VSS/VDS Provider as a COM+ application. Attackers can use this to install malicious DLLs for persistence and execution.

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Detects PowerShell module creation where the module Contents are set to "function Get-VMRemoteFXPhysicalVideoAdapter". This could be a sign of potential abuse of the "RemoteFXvGPUDisablement.exe" binary which is known to be vulnerable to module load-order hijacking.

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Detects PowerShell module creation where the module Contents are set to "function Get-VMRemoteFXPhysicalVideoAdapter". This could be a sign of potential abuse of the "RemoteFXvGPUDisablement.exe" binary which is known to be vulnerable to module load-order hijacking.

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Detects PowerShell module creation where the module Contents are set to "function Get-VMRemoteFXPhysicalVideoAdapter". This could be a sign of potential abuse of the "RemoteFXvGPUDisablement.exe" binary which is known to be vulnerable to module load-order hijacking.

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Detects potential suspicious child processes of "3CXDesktopApp.exe". Which could be related to the 3CXDesktopApp supply chain compromise

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Detects execution of the "mofcomp" utility as a child of a suspicious shell or script running utility or by having a suspicious path in the commandline. The "mofcomp" utility parses a file containing MOF statements and adds the classes and class instances defined in the file to the WMI repository. Attackers abuse this utility to install malicious MOF scripts

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Detects usage of Dsacls to grant over permissive permissions

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Detects the expansion or decompression of cabinet files from potentially suspicious or uncommon locations, e.g. seen in Iranian MeteorExpress related attacks

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Detects potentially suspicious child processes of "Diskshadow.exe". This could be an attempt to bypass parent/child relationship detection or application whitelisting rules.

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Detects inline Windows shell commands redirecting output via the ">" symbol to a suspicious location. This technique is sometimes used by malicious actors in order to redirect the output of reconnaissance commands such as "hostname" and "dir" to files for future exfiltration.

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Detects the creation of a binary file with the ".sed" extension. The ".sed" extension stand for Self Extraction Directive files. These files are used by the "iexpress.exe" utility in order to create self extracting packages. Attackers were seen abusing this utility and creating PE files with embedded ".sed" entries. Usually ".sed" files are simple ini files and not PE binaries.

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Detects the use of the Windows Update Client binary (wuauclt.exe) to proxy execute code and making network connections. One could easily make the DLL spawn a new process and inject to it to proxy the network connection and bypass this rule.

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Detects the execution of "dotnet-dump" with the "collect" flag. The execution could indicate potential process dumping of critical processes such as LSASS.

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Detects the use of the Windows Update Client binary (wuauclt.exe) for proxy execution.

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Detects the use of a Microsoft signed script 'REGISTER_APP.VBS' to register a VSS/VDS Provider as a COM+ application.

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Detects execution of "findstr" with specific flags and a remote share path. This specific set of CLI flags would allow "findstr" to download the content of the file located on the remote share as described in the LOLBAS entry.

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Detects calls to the AtomicTestHarnesses "Invoke-ATHRemoteFXvGPUDisablementCommand" which is designed to abuse the "RemoteFXvGPUDisablement.exe" binary to run custom PowerShell code via module load-order hijacking.

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Detects the execution of a renamed MegaSync.exe as seen used by ransomware families like Nefilim, Sodinokibi, Pysa, and Conti.

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Detects a renamed "dctask64.exe" execution, a signed binary by ZOHO Corporation part of ManageEngine Endpoint Central. This binary can be abused for DLL injection, arbitrary command and process execution.

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Detects the use of iexpress.exe to create binaries via Self Extraction Directive (SED) files located in potentially suspicious locations. This behavior has been observed in-the-wild by different threat actors.

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Detects the creation of Self Extraction Directive files (.sed) in a potentially suspicious location. These files are used by the "iexpress.exe" utility in order to create self extracting packages. Attackers were seen abusing this utility and creating PE files with embedded ".sed" entries.

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Detects execution of the AgentExecutor.exe binary. Which can be abused as a LOLBIN to execute powershell scripts with the ExecutionPolicy "Bypass" or any binary named "powershell.exe" located in the path provided by 6th positional argument

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Detects suspicious child processes of "BgInfo.exe" which could be a sign of potential abuse of the binary to proxy execution via external VBScript

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Csi.exe is a signed binary from Microsoft that comes with Visual Studio and provides C# interactive capabilities. It can be used to run C# code from a file passed as a parameter in command line. Early version of this utility provided with Microsoft “Roslyn” Community Technology Preview was named 'rcsi.exe'

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Detects when a user installs certificates by using CertOC.exe to load the target DLL file.

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Detects the creation of Usage Log files by the CLR (clr.dll). These files are named after the executing process once the assembly is finished executing for the first time in the (user) session context.

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Detects a suspicious execution of a Microsoft HTML Help (HH.exe)

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Detects msdt.exe executed by a suspicious parent as seen in CVE-2022-30190 / Follina exploitation

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Detects suspicious child processes of "provlaunch.exe" which might indicate potential abuse to proxy execution.

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Detects Microsoft Visual Studio vsls-agent.exe lolbin execution with a suspicious library load using the --agentExtensionPath parameter

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ZipExec is a Proof-of-Concept (POC) tool to wrap binary-based tools into a password-protected zip file.

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Detects SyncAppvPublishingServer process execution which usually utilized by adversaries to bypass PowerShell execution restrictions.

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Executes arbitrary PowerShell code using SyncAppvPublishingServer.exe.

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Detects SyncAppvPublishingServer process execution which usually utilized by adversaries to bypass PowerShell execution restrictions.

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Executes arbitrary PowerShell code using SyncAppvPublishingServer.vbs

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Detects usage of Time Travel Debugging Utility. Adversaries can execute malicious processes and dump processes, such as lsass.exe, via tttracer.exe.

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Detects usage of Time Travel Debugging Utility. Adversaries can execute malicious processes and dump processes, such as lsass.exe, via tttracer.exe.

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Detects the start of a non built-in assistive technology applications via "Atbroker.EXE".

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Detects execution of the Add-In deployment cache updating utility (AddInutil.exe) with uncommon Addinroot or Pipelineroot paths. An adversary may execute AddinUtil.exe with uncommon Addinroot/Pipelineroot paths that point to the adversaries Addins.Store payload.

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Detects uncommon child processes of the Add-In deployment cache updating utility (AddInutil.exe) which could be a sign of potential abuse of the binary to proxy execution via a custom Addins.Store payload.

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Detects uncommon child processes of Appvlp.EXE Appvlp or the Application Virtualization Utility is included with Microsoft Office. Attackers are able to abuse "AppVLP" to execute shell commands. Normally, this binary is used for Application Virtualization, but it can also be abused to circumvent the ASR file path rule folder or to mark a file as a system file.

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Detects uncommon child processes of "BgInfo.exe" which could be a sign of potential abuse of the binary to proxy execution via external VBScript

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Detects uncommon child processes of "DefaultPack.EXE" binary as a proxy to launch other programs

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Detects uncommon child process of Setres.EXE. Setres.EXE is a Windows server only process and tool that can be used to set the screen resolution. It can potentially be abused in order to launch any arbitrary file with a name containing the word "choice" from the current execution path.

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Detects an uncommon parent process of "LINK.EXE". Link.EXE in Microsoft incremental linker. Its a utility usually bundled with Visual Studio installation. Multiple utilities often found in the same folder (editbin.exe, dumpbin.exe, lib.exe, etc) have a hardcode call to the "LINK.EXE" binary without checking its validity. This would allow an attacker to sideload any binary with the name "link.exe" if one of the aforementioned tools get executed from a different location. By filtering the known locations of such utilities we can spot uncommon parent process of LINK.EXE that might be suspicious or malicious.

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The "ScriptRunner.exe" binary can be abused to proxy execution through it and bypass possible whitelisting

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Detects the usage of the "sftp.exe" binary as a LOLBIN by abusing the "-D" flag

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VisualUiaVerifyNative.exe is a Windows SDK that can be used for AWL bypass and is listed in Microsoft's recommended block rules.

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Detects when verclsid.exe is used to run COM object via GUID

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Detects child processes of Microsoft.NodejsTools.PressAnyKey.exe that can be used to execute any other binary

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Detects renamed execution of "Microsoft.NodejsTools.PressAnyKey.exe", which can be abused as a LOLBIN to execute arbitrary binaries

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Detects suspicious child processes of a Windows shell and scripting processes such as wscript, rundll32, powershell, mshta...etc.

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Detects the execution of "Wlrmdr.exe" with the "-u" command line flag which allows anything passed to it to be an argument of the ShellExecute API, which would allow an attacker to execute arbitrary binaries. This detection also focuses on any uncommon child processes spawned from "Wlrmdr.exe" as a supplement for those that posses "ParentImage" telemetry.

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Detects uncommon or suspicious child processes spawning from a WSL process. This could indicate an attempt to evade parent/child relationship detections or persistence attempts via cron using WSL

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Detects the execution of ".xbap" (Browser Applications) files via PresentationHost.EXE from an uncommon location. These files can be abused to run malicious ".xbap" files any bypass AWL

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Detects the execution of CMSTP that is used install fake Connection Manager Profiles via contains via .INF files that resign on a temp location on disk and contains instructions for how the Connection Manager should install the profile. The .INF files could contain malicious code under the section RunPreSetupCommandsSection which is the commands to run before setup.

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Using dumpbin.exe, a windows binary that is installed along side visual studio versions. When dumbin.exe is executed, it is calling link.exe without checking the legitimacy of the link.exe named binary in the same directory.

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Detects execution of side-loaded executable via the update.exe, part microsoft teams' application binary.

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Detects the subvert execution of malicious payloads using vsdiagnostics.exe. VSDiagnostics.exe is an executable part of the Microsoft Visual Studio. Threat actors can use the start to start a new session in combination with the /launch and /launchargs parameters to execute a malicious payload on disk.

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Wermgr.exe should not spawn without any command line arguments. Sometimes malware are using process injection to masquerade their malicious activities and evade detection.

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DLLs that are designed to be loaded by Regsvr32 are expected to have a DllRegisterServer export function implemented. Adversaries will often supply the same DLL to rundll32.exe as well. Executing the DllRegisterServer export function with rundll32.exe is tradecraft that’s unique to adversary behavior and is rarely seen in legitimate scenarios. We’ve observed this behavior in threats including Qbot, Ursnif, and Zloader, to name a few examples. Part of the RedCanary 2024 Threat Detection Report.

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The following pseudo-detector should help security teams detect instances where Rundll32 opens a cross process handle into LSASS to collect credentials. Part of the RedCanary 2024 Threat Detection Report.

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As is the case with most techniques in this report, it's critical that you are able to take stock of what is normal in your environment if you hope to be able to identify what isn't. In the context of Rundll32, you’ll want to monitor for executions of rundll32.exe from unusual parent processes, and the following pseudo-analytic—based on an amalgamation of Red Canary detection logic—should help security teams do just that. Part of the RedCanary 2024 Threat Detection Report.

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Rundll32 does not normally execute without corresponding command-line arguments and while spawning a child process. Given this, you may want to alert on the execution of processes that appear to be rundll32.exe without any command-line arguments , especially when they spawn child processes or make network connections. Part of the RedCanary 2024 Threat Detection Report.

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Consider monitoring for instances of rundll32.exe running Windows native DLLs that have export functionalities that adversaries commonly leverage for executing malicious code and evading defensive controls. The following pseudo-analytic applies specifically to adversaries who use the MiniDump export functionality of comsvcs.dll to dump the contents of LSASS, but this logic could be adapted to detect other malicious activity as well. Part of the RedCanary 2024 Threat Detection Report.

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To detect suspicious use of msiexec.exe by Raspberry Robin or other threats, it’s essential to take a look at the command line and the URL. Detecting msiexec.exe making outbound network connections to download and install packages in the command-line interface will give you the opportunity to examine the activity and determine if it’s malicious or not. Part of the RedCanary 2024 Threat Detection Report.

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Detects the suspicious child process of calc

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Detects the suspicious child process of regsvr32

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Detects DNS queries from processes with double file extensions, a common method of masquerading or obfuscating a file type in malware delivery. Observed in early 2023 AsyncRAT/Quasar malware delivery using malicious OneNote files.

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Detects downloads by processes with double file extensions, a common method of masquerading or obfuscating a file type in malware delivery. Observed in early 2023 AsyncRAT/Quasar malware delivery using malicious OneNote files.

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Detects file creations by processes with double file extensions, a common method of masquerading or obfuscating a file type in malware delivery. Observed in early 2023 AsyncRAT/Quasar malware delivery using malicious OneNote files.

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Detects network connections from processes with double file extensions, a common method of masquerading or obfuscating a file type in malware delivery. Observed in early 2023 AsyncRAT/Quasar malware delivery using malicious OneNote files.

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Detects potential process injection of RegAsm.exe as indicated by lack of command-line arguments. This was observed in a recent campaign to distribute AsyncRAT and Quasar RAT using malicious OneNot files.

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DLLs that are designed to be loaded by Regsvr32 are expected to have a DllRegisterServer export function implemented. This detects use of the same DLL to rundll32.exe. Inspired by the 2022 Red Canary Threat Detection report.

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Detects instances of rundll32.exe running Windows native DLLs that have export functionalities that adversaries commonly leverage for executing malicious code and evading defensive controls. Inspired by the 2022 Red Canary Threat Detection report.

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Detects executions of rundll32.exe from unusual or suspicious parent processes. Inspired by the 2022 Red Canary Threat Detection report.

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Detects instances of rundll32.exe with no command line that spawns a child process. Inspired by the 2022 Red Canary Threat Detection report.

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