Suspicious Communication via Mail Protocol


Description

Identifies DNS queries to Mail domain names by an unusual process. Adversaries may communicate using application layer protocols associated with electronic mail delivery to avoid detection/network filtering by blending in with existing traffic.

Query · eql

sequence by process.entity_id with maxspan=3m
 [process where event.action == "start" and
  (
   (process.Ext.device.product_id : ("Virtual DVD-ROM", "Virtual Disk") and not process.executable : "C:\\*") or
   (process.Ext.relative_file_creation_time <= 500 and (process.code_signature.trusted == false or process.code_signature.exists == false) and 
    process.executable : "C:\\*") or
   process.name : ("rundll32.exe", "regsvr32.exe", "mshta.exe") or
   process.pe.original_file_name : "AutoIt*.exe" or
   (process.Ext.relative_file_creation_time <= 500 and
    process.executable :
                ("C:\\Users\\Public\\*",
                 "C:\\Users\\*\\Downloads\\*",
                 "C:\\Windows\\Temp\\*",
                 "C:\\Windows\\Tasks\\*",
                 "C:\\ProgramData\\*",
                 "C:\\Windows\\Microsoft.NET\\*")) or
    process.executable : ("C:\\Users\\*\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\7z*\\",
                         "C:\\Users\\*\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\Rar$*\\*",
                         "C:\\Users\\*\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\Temp?_*\\*",
                         "C:\\Users\\*\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\BNZ.*")
  ) and
  not process.parent.executable : "C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Visual Studio\\*\\Common7\\IDE\\CommonExtensions\\Platform\\Debugger\\VsDebugConsole.exe" and
  not process.executable :
              ("?:\\ProgramData\\Microsoft\\Windows Defender\\Platform\\*\\MsMpEng.exe",
               "?:\\ProgramData\\Microsoft\\Windows Defender\\Platform\\*\\NisSrv.exe",
               "?:\\ProgramData\\Microsoft\\Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection\\Platform\\*\\MsSense.exe",
               "?:\\Program Files (x86)\\*.exe",
               "?:\\Program Files\\*.exe") and
  not (process.code_signature.subject_name :
              ("Google LLC", "Mozilla Corporation", "Wave*", "Brave Software, Inc.", "Opera Norway AS") and
       process.code_signature.trusted == true) and
  not (process.name : "rundll32.exe" and process.parent.executable : "?:\\Program Files*\\Microsoft Office\\root\\Client\\AppVLP.exe") and
  not (process.name : ("rundll32.exe", "regsvr32.exe") and
       process.args : ("?:\\PROGRA~?\\MICROS~?\\Office*\\MLCFG32.CPL,@0",
                       "?:\\Program Files (x86)\\*",
                       "?:\\Program Files\\*",
                       "?:\\Windows\\System32\\mshtml.dll,PrintHTML")) and
  not process.hash.sha256 :
                  ("e602b527d34ecbb43339f55bf9aa6506886a5cfda239099fbaca3754bcee8618",
                   "af0652daaa73b748ea967714aaac2d439b562e278d5ad6109416f5fbfee81332",
                   "b361a064f3e4d953619af3f4646b65b877b1971c716c7b67de3173f50cd9408b",
                   "8dd74f858de15f072da0fafd3f0a42973ee0c83d8151191fd085c38b15559543",
                   "8aae9f3c8bddf3b59a16c1e4ba93d4e3b178dc1a9757e9a66a7811ca318f50c4",
                   "7e400dbd2d895f79d25f42e9738a96d5f0526615fd793e897f2dc90d1c3155f5",
                   "4a5519a14015a8adfd7d8232bfac648b2bc15f05318be3bf6eb6bcd7191b6818",
                   "7ad17c0d93925a9b1f172351c397397fcea0f21f881d26412f32e7f7a5c1977f",
                   "6f44f5a92b3893115e7fdd52735dd639de5d286111841c69aaba53129718eb88",
                   "9fbf6e5cc6f6f1fcf69c39637fc62ddfe92600364ca6182f748898116f95577c",
                   "800a013f47846f33f28f28f51a7bc6ad7285466492eb1186511f997438c7d82e",
                   "3645e1e234ecebe6f138e909203e7d9867cfe3c0880742a280d04673fbf61a46",
                   "57f0db8244e21dff824d42562fb8a32dc4c65fced809f4b8c319ef9e140ef370",
                   "b74cfbb7d082e857017b6d593a931ab187cd48535077a74d446974571b25875f")
  ]
 [dns where dns.question.name : ("smtp.*", "mail.*")]
Raw source Suspicious Communication via Mail Protocol · Elastic TOML
Esc
Published by elastic/protections-artifacts ↗, licensed under Elastic License 2.0 ↗. Reproduced here unmodified.
[rule]
description = """
Identifies DNS queries to Mail domain names by an unusual process. Adversaries may communicate using application layer
protocols associated with electronic mail delivery to avoid detection/network filtering by blending in with existing
traffic.
"""
id = "0898f7c9-f667-4db1-a1ce-ddbf61a32361"
license = "Elastic License v2"
name = "Suspicious Communication via Mail Protocol"
os_list = ["windows"]
version = "1.0.18"

query = '''
sequence by process.entity_id with maxspan=3m
 [process where event.action == "start" and
  (
   (process.Ext.device.product_id : ("Virtual DVD-ROM", "Virtual Disk") and not process.executable : "C:\\*") or
   (process.Ext.relative_file_creation_time <= 500 and (process.code_signature.trusted == false or process.code_signature.exists == false) and 
    process.executable : "C:\\*") or
   process.name : ("rundll32.exe", "regsvr32.exe", "mshta.exe") or
   process.pe.original_file_name : "AutoIt*.exe" or
   (process.Ext.relative_file_creation_time <= 500 and
    process.executable :
                ("C:\\Users\\Public\\*",
                 "C:\\Users\\*\\Downloads\\*",
                 "C:\\Windows\\Temp\\*",
                 "C:\\Windows\\Tasks\\*",
                 "C:\\ProgramData\\*",
                 "C:\\Windows\\Microsoft.NET\\*")) or
    process.executable : ("C:\\Users\\*\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\7z*\\",
                         "C:\\Users\\*\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\Rar$*\\*",
                         "C:\\Users\\*\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\Temp?_*\\*",
                         "C:\\Users\\*\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\BNZ.*")
  ) and
  not process.parent.executable : "C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Visual Studio\\*\\Common7\\IDE\\CommonExtensions\\Platform\\Debugger\\VsDebugConsole.exe" and
  not process.executable :
              ("?:\\ProgramData\\Microsoft\\Windows Defender\\Platform\\*\\MsMpEng.exe",
               "?:\\ProgramData\\Microsoft\\Windows Defender\\Platform\\*\\NisSrv.exe",
               "?:\\ProgramData\\Microsoft\\Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection\\Platform\\*\\MsSense.exe",
               "?:\\Program Files (x86)\\*.exe",
               "?:\\Program Files\\*.exe") and
  not (process.code_signature.subject_name :
              ("Google LLC", "Mozilla Corporation", "Wave*", "Brave Software, Inc.", "Opera Norway AS") and
       process.code_signature.trusted == true) and
  not (process.name : "rundll32.exe" and process.parent.executable : "?:\\Program Files*\\Microsoft Office\\root\\Client\\AppVLP.exe") and
  not (process.name : ("rundll32.exe", "regsvr32.exe") and
       process.args : ("?:\\PROGRA~?\\MICROS~?\\Office*\\MLCFG32.CPL,@0",
                       "?:\\Program Files (x86)\\*",
                       "?:\\Program Files\\*",
                       "?:\\Windows\\System32\\mshtml.dll,PrintHTML")) and
  not process.hash.sha256 :
                  ("e602b527d34ecbb43339f55bf9aa6506886a5cfda239099fbaca3754bcee8618",
                   "af0652daaa73b748ea967714aaac2d439b562e278d5ad6109416f5fbfee81332",
                   "b361a064f3e4d953619af3f4646b65b877b1971c716c7b67de3173f50cd9408b",
                   "8dd74f858de15f072da0fafd3f0a42973ee0c83d8151191fd085c38b15559543",
                   "8aae9f3c8bddf3b59a16c1e4ba93d4e3b178dc1a9757e9a66a7811ca318f50c4",
                   "7e400dbd2d895f79d25f42e9738a96d5f0526615fd793e897f2dc90d1c3155f5",
                   "4a5519a14015a8adfd7d8232bfac648b2bc15f05318be3bf6eb6bcd7191b6818",
                   "7ad17c0d93925a9b1f172351c397397fcea0f21f881d26412f32e7f7a5c1977f",
                   "6f44f5a92b3893115e7fdd52735dd639de5d286111841c69aaba53129718eb88",
                   "9fbf6e5cc6f6f1fcf69c39637fc62ddfe92600364ca6182f748898116f95577c",
                   "800a013f47846f33f28f28f51a7bc6ad7285466492eb1186511f997438c7d82e",
                   "3645e1e234ecebe6f138e909203e7d9867cfe3c0880742a280d04673fbf61a46",
                   "57f0db8244e21dff824d42562fb8a32dc4c65fced809f4b8c319ef9e140ef370",
                   "b74cfbb7d082e857017b6d593a931ab187cd48535077a74d446974571b25875f")
  ]
 [dns where dns.question.name : ("smtp.*", "mail.*")]
'''

min_endpoint_version = "8.4.0"
optional_actions = []
[[actions]]
action = "kill_process"
field = "process.entity_id"
state = 0

[[threat]]
framework = "MITRE ATT&CK"
[[threat.technique]]
id = "T1204"
name = "User Execution"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1204/"
[[threat.technique.subtechnique]]
id = "T1204.002"
name = "Malicious File"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1204/002/"



[threat.tactic]
id = "TA0002"
name = "Execution"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0002/"
[[threat]]
framework = "MITRE ATT&CK"
[[threat.technique]]
id = "T1071"
name = "Application Layer Protocol"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1071/"
[[threat.technique.subtechnique]]
id = "T1071.003"
name = "Mail Protocols"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1071/003/"



[threat.tactic]
id = "TA0011"
name = "Command and Control"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0011/"

[internal]
min_endpoint_version = "8.4.0"

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