Suspicious Bitsadmin Activity


Description

Identifies downloads, transfers, or job creations using Windows Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) Admin Tool. This tactic may be indicative of malicious activity where malware is downloading second stage payloads using obscure methods.

Query · eql

process where event.action == "start" and
  (process.name : "bitsadmin.exe" or process.pe.original_file_name : "bitsadmin.exe") and
  process.command_line : ("*download*", "*transfer*", "*create*", "*addfile*", "*SetNotifyCmdLine*") and
  (process.parent.name : (
      "winword.exe",
      "excel.exe",
      "outlook.exe",
      "powerpnt.exe",
      "eqnedt32.exe",
      "fltldr.exe",
      "mspub.exe",
      "msaccess.exe",
      "acrord32.exe",
      "rdrcef.exe",
      "foxitphantomPDF.exe",
      "foxitreader.exe",
      "firefox.exe",
      "chrome.exe",
      "iexplore.exe",
      "opera.exe",
      "plugin-container.exe",
      "safari.exe",
      "microsoftedge.exe",
      "w3wp.exe",
      "httpd.exe",
      "nginx.exe",
      "php.exe",
      "php-cgi.exe",
      "tomcat.exe",
      "wscript.exe",
      "cscript.exe",
      "powershell.exe",
      "pwsh.exe",
      "cmd.exe",
      "mshta.exe"
      ) or
  descendant of [process where event.action == "start" and
    process.parent.name : (
      "winword.exe",
      "excel.exe",
      "outlook.exe",
      "powerpnt.exe",
      "eqnedt32.exe",
      "fltldr.exe",
      "mspub.exe",
      "msaccess.exe",
      "acrord32.exe",
      "rdrcef.exe",
      "foxitphantomPDF.exe",
      "foxitreader.exe",
      "firefox.exe",
      "chrome.exe",
      "iexplore.exe",
      "opera.exe",
      "plugin-container.exe",
      "safari.exe",
      "microsoftedge.exe",
      "w3wp.exe",
      "httpd.exe",
      "nginx.exe",
      "php.exe",
      "php-cgi.exe",
      "tomcat.exe",
      "wscript.exe",
      "cscript.exe",
      "powershell.exe",
      "pwsh.exe",
      "cmd.exe",
      "mshta.exe"
    )]) and
    not (process.args : "https://dl.duosecurity.com/*" and process.parent.args : "?:\\ProgramData\\NinjaRMMAgent\\scripting\\*") and
    not process.command_line : "bitsadmin  /RawReturn /GetBytesTransferred mingw" and
    not process.args :
             ("https://opalrtwebsitedata.blob.core.windows.net/software/mingw/*",
              "C:\\EMES\\workspace\\1.9\\sim.properties",
              "C:\\EMES\\rsd\\run.bat",
              "C:\\EMES\\rsd\\sim.properties",
              "C:\\EMES\\tmp\\restart_rsd.bat") and
    not process.executable : "?:\\Program Files (x86)\\Bosch\\DownloadManager\\bin\\Bitsadmin*.exe" and
    not (process.parent.name : "cmd.exe" and
         process.parent.command_line : (
            "C:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\cmd.exe /c \"\"C:\\Program Files\\ATERA Networks\\AteraAgent\\Packages\\AgentPackageSystemTools\\*.bat\"\"",
            "C:\\Windows\\SYSTEM32\\cmd.exe /c \"\"C:\\Program files\\vuls-saas\\vuls-saas.bat\"\""
        ))
Raw source Suspicious Bitsadmin Activity · Elastic TOML
Esc
Published by elastic/protections-artifacts ↗, licensed under Elastic License 2.0 ↗. Reproduced here unmodified.
[rule]
description = """
Identifies downloads, transfers, or job creations using Windows Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) Admin
Tool. This tactic may be indicative of malicious activity where malware is downloading second stage payloads using
obscure methods.
"""
id = "676ac66c-4899-498f-ae21-ed5620af5477"
license = "Elastic License v2"
name = "Suspicious Bitsadmin Activity"
os_list = ["windows"]
reference = ["https://www.elastic.co/blog/hunting-for-persistence-using-elastic-security-part-2"]
version = "1.0.35"

query = '''
process where event.action == "start" and
  (process.name : "bitsadmin.exe" or process.pe.original_file_name : "bitsadmin.exe") and
  process.command_line : ("*download*", "*transfer*", "*create*", "*addfile*", "*SetNotifyCmdLine*") and
  (process.parent.name : (
      "winword.exe",
      "excel.exe",
      "outlook.exe",
      "powerpnt.exe",
      "eqnedt32.exe",
      "fltldr.exe",
      "mspub.exe",
      "msaccess.exe",
      "acrord32.exe",
      "rdrcef.exe",
      "foxitphantomPDF.exe",
      "foxitreader.exe",
      "firefox.exe",
      "chrome.exe",
      "iexplore.exe",
      "opera.exe",
      "plugin-container.exe",
      "safari.exe",
      "microsoftedge.exe",
      "w3wp.exe",
      "httpd.exe",
      "nginx.exe",
      "php.exe",
      "php-cgi.exe",
      "tomcat.exe",
      "wscript.exe",
      "cscript.exe",
      "powershell.exe",
      "pwsh.exe",
      "cmd.exe",
      "mshta.exe"
      ) or
  descendant of [process where event.action == "start" and
    process.parent.name : (
      "winword.exe",
      "excel.exe",
      "outlook.exe",
      "powerpnt.exe",
      "eqnedt32.exe",
      "fltldr.exe",
      "mspub.exe",
      "msaccess.exe",
      "acrord32.exe",
      "rdrcef.exe",
      "foxitphantomPDF.exe",
      "foxitreader.exe",
      "firefox.exe",
      "chrome.exe",
      "iexplore.exe",
      "opera.exe",
      "plugin-container.exe",
      "safari.exe",
      "microsoftedge.exe",
      "w3wp.exe",
      "httpd.exe",
      "nginx.exe",
      "php.exe",
      "php-cgi.exe",
      "tomcat.exe",
      "wscript.exe",
      "cscript.exe",
      "powershell.exe",
      "pwsh.exe",
      "cmd.exe",
      "mshta.exe"
    )]) and
    not (process.args : "https://dl.duosecurity.com/*" and process.parent.args : "?:\\ProgramData\\NinjaRMMAgent\\scripting\\*") and
    not process.command_line : "bitsadmin  /RawReturn /GetBytesTransferred mingw" and
    not process.args :
             ("https://opalrtwebsitedata.blob.core.windows.net/software/mingw/*",
              "C:\\EMES\\workspace\\1.9\\sim.properties",
              "C:\\EMES\\rsd\\run.bat",
              "C:\\EMES\\rsd\\sim.properties",
              "C:\\EMES\\tmp\\restart_rsd.bat") and
    not process.executable : "?:\\Program Files (x86)\\Bosch\\DownloadManager\\bin\\Bitsadmin*.exe" and
    not (process.parent.name : "cmd.exe" and
         process.parent.command_line : (
            "C:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\cmd.exe /c \"\"C:\\Program Files\\ATERA Networks\\AteraAgent\\Packages\\AgentPackageSystemTools\\*.bat\"\"",
            "C:\\Windows\\SYSTEM32\\cmd.exe /c \"\"C:\\Program files\\vuls-saas\\vuls-saas.bat\"\""
        ))
'''

min_endpoint_version = "7.15.0"
optional_actions = []
[[actions]]
action = "kill_process"
field = "process.entity_id"
state = 0

[[threat]]
framework = "MITRE ATT&CK"
[[threat.technique]]
id = "T1197"
name = "BITS Jobs"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1197/"


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

[internal]
min_endpoint_version = "7.15.0"

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