Suspicious Control Panel DLL Loaded by Explorer


Description

Identifies DLL load of an unsigned or untrusted Control Panel Item by the Explorer process. Adversaries may load a malicious DLL when Control Panel is executed via setting the CPLs subkey to the payload path.

Query · eql

sequence  with maxspan = 5s

 [library where process.name : "explorer.exe" and
  (dll.code_signature.trusted == false or dll.code_signature.exists == false) and
  (dll.Ext.relative_file_creation_time <= 500 or dll.Ext.relative_file_name_modify_time <= 500) and
  not dll.path :
          ("?:\\Program Files\\*",
           "?:\\Program Files (x86)\\*",
           "?:\\Windows\\System32\\*",
           "?:\\Windows\\SysWOW64\\*",
           "?:\\Windows\\assembly\\*",
           "?:\\Windows\\WinSxS\\*",
           "?:\\Windows\\Microsoft.NET\\assembly\\*",
           "?:\\ProgramData\\RICOH_DRV\\*",
           "?:\\ProgramData\\EPSON\\*",
           "?:\\ProgramData\\Seagull\\Drivers\\*") and
   not dll.hash.sha256 : "35fb376fac5bbd83843958df8c3bf941681db116f1f500396ce813efd13d76b0" and
   not (dll.pe.imphash : "d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e" and
         dll.path : ("?:\\ProgramData\\Seagull\\Drivers\\Temp\\*.tmp",
                     "?:\\Users\\*\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\ptx*.tmp",
                     "?:\\Users\\*\\Temp\\ptx*.tmp"))
   ] by process.entity_id

 [process where event.action == "start" and process.parent.name : "explorer.exe" and

  /* CLSID_ControlPanelProcessExplorerHost */
  process.parent.args : "/factory,{5BD95610-9434-43C2-886C-57852CC8A120}" and

  /* false positives */
  not (process.name : "rundll32.exe" and
       process.args :
            ("printui.dll,PrintUIEntryDPIAware",
             "?:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\spool\\DRIVERS\\*PrintJobStatus",
             "fdprint,InvokeTask")) and
  not (process.name : "mmc.exe" and process.args : "?:\\windows\\system32\\devmgmt.msc") and
  not process.executable : ("?:\\windows\\system32\\DevicePairingWizard.exe", "?:\\Windows\\System32\\spool\\drivers\\x64\\3\\E_YARNYWE.EXE")
  ] by process.parent.entity_id
Raw source Suspicious Control Panel DLL Loaded by Explorer · Elastic TOML
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Published by elastic/protections-artifacts ↗, licensed under Elastic License 2.0 ↗. Reproduced here unmodified.
[rule]
description = """
Identifies DLL load of an unsigned or untrusted Control Panel Item by the Explorer process. Adversaries may load a
malicious DLL when Control Panel is executed via setting the CPLs subkey to the payload path.
"""
id = "1dbf6ac3-540a-4214-8173-9aa93232da38"
license = "Elastic License v2"
name = "Suspicious Control Panel DLL Loaded by Explorer"
os_list = ["windows"]
reference = [
    "https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/desktop/legacy/hh127454(v=vs.85)",
    "https://www.elastic.co/security-labs/Hunting-for-Suspicious-Windows-Libraries-for-Execution-and-Evasion",
]
version = "1.0.28"

query = '''
sequence  with maxspan = 5s

 [library where process.name : "explorer.exe" and
  (dll.code_signature.trusted == false or dll.code_signature.exists == false) and
  (dll.Ext.relative_file_creation_time <= 500 or dll.Ext.relative_file_name_modify_time <= 500) and
  not dll.path :
          ("?:\\Program Files\\*",
           "?:\\Program Files (x86)\\*",
           "?:\\Windows\\System32\\*",
           "?:\\Windows\\SysWOW64\\*",
           "?:\\Windows\\assembly\\*",
           "?:\\Windows\\WinSxS\\*",
           "?:\\Windows\\Microsoft.NET\\assembly\\*",
           "?:\\ProgramData\\RICOH_DRV\\*",
           "?:\\ProgramData\\EPSON\\*",
           "?:\\ProgramData\\Seagull\\Drivers\\*") and
   not dll.hash.sha256 : "35fb376fac5bbd83843958df8c3bf941681db116f1f500396ce813efd13d76b0" and
   not (dll.pe.imphash : "d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e" and
         dll.path : ("?:\\ProgramData\\Seagull\\Drivers\\Temp\\*.tmp",
                     "?:\\Users\\*\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\ptx*.tmp",
                     "?:\\Users\\*\\Temp\\ptx*.tmp"))
   ] by process.entity_id

 [process where event.action == "start" and process.parent.name : "explorer.exe" and

  /* CLSID_ControlPanelProcessExplorerHost */
  process.parent.args : "/factory,{5BD95610-9434-43C2-886C-57852CC8A120}" and

  /* false positives */
  not (process.name : "rundll32.exe" and
       process.args :
            ("printui.dll,PrintUIEntryDPIAware",
             "?:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\spool\\DRIVERS\\*PrintJobStatus",
             "fdprint,InvokeTask")) and
  not (process.name : "mmc.exe" and process.args : "?:\\windows\\system32\\devmgmt.msc") and
  not process.executable : ("?:\\windows\\system32\\DevicePairingWizard.exe", "?:\\Windows\\System32\\spool\\drivers\\x64\\3\\E_YARNYWE.EXE")
  ] by process.parent.entity_id
'''

min_endpoint_version = "8.4.0"
optional_actions = []
[[actions]]
action = "kill_process"
field = "process.entity_id"
state = 1

[[threat]]
framework = "MITRE ATT&CK"
[[threat.technique]]
id = "T1218"
name = "System Binary Proxy Execution"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1218/"
[[threat.technique.subtechnique]]
id = "T1218.002"
name = "Control Panel"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1218/002/"



[threat.tactic]
id = "TA0005"
name = "Defense Evasion"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0005/"

[internal]
min_endpoint_version = "8.4.0"

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