Registry Persistence via Microsoft Office Descendant Process
Description
Identifies the modification of common AutoStart related registry keys descending from a Microsoft Office process. Adversaries may use this technique to maintain persistence.
Query · eql
sequence by process.entity_id with maxspan=5m
[process where event.action == "start" and
(process.parent.name : ("EQNEDT32.EXE", "WINWORD.EXE", "EXCEL.EXE", "POWERPNT.EXE", "MSPUB.EXE", "MSACCESS.EXE") or
descendant of [process where event.action == "start" and
process.name :
("EQNEDT32.EXE",
"WINWORD.EXE",
"EXCEL.EXE",
"POWERPNT.EXE",
"MSPUB.EXE",
"MSACCESS.EXE")]) and
/* Issue #303 */
not process.Ext.token.integrity_level_name == "system" and
not (process.code_signature.trusted == true)
]
[registry where registry.data.strings != null and
registry.path : (
"HKEY_USERS\\*\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Run\\*",
"HKEY_USERS\\*\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Explorer\\User Shell Folders\\*",
"HKEY_USERS\\*\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Explorer\\Shell Folders\\*",
"HKEY_USERS\\*\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Policies\\Explorer\\Run\\*",
"HKEY_USERS\\*\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Winlogon\\Shell\\*",
"HKEY_USERS\\*\\Environment\\UserInitMprLogonScript",
"HKEY_USERS\\*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Windows\\Load",
"HKEY_USERS\\*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Winlogon\\Shell",
"HKEY_USERS\\*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Policies\\System\\Shell",
"HKEY_USERS\\*\\SOFTWARE\\Policies\\Microsoft\\Windows\\System\\Scripts\\Logoff\\Script",
"HKEY_USERS\\*\\SOFTWARE\\Policies\\Microsoft\\Windows\\System\\Scripts\\Logon\\Script",
"HKEY_USERS\\*\\SOFTWARE\\Policies\\Microsoft\\Windows\\System\\Scripts\\Shutdown\\Script",
"HKEY_USERS\\*\\SOFTWARE\\Policies\\Microsoft\\Windows\\System\\Scripts\\Startup\\Script",
"HKEY_USERS\\*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Ctf\\LangBarAddin\\*\\FilePath",
"HKEY_USERS\\*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Internet Explorer\\Extensions\\*\\Exec",
"HKEY_USERS\\*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Internet Explorer\\Extensions\\*\\Script",
"HKEY_USERS\\*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Command Processor\\Autorun"
)
]