Cross-source coverage

T1036.004 / ATT&CK

Masquerading: Masquerade Task or Service

16 rules across 6 sources.

2 deprecated hidden · include

From MITRE ATT&CK 19.2

Adversaries may attempt to manipulate the name of a task or service to make it appear legitimate or benign. Tasks/services executed by the Task Scheduler or systemd will typically be given a name and/or description. Windows services will have a service name as well as a display name. Many benign tasks and services exist that have commonly associated names. Adversaries may give tasks or services names that are similar or identical to those of legitimate ones.

Tasks or services contain other fields, such as a description, that adversaries may attempt to make appear legitimate.

Tactics: Stealth
Platforms: Linux · macOS · Windows
Telemetry: WinEventLog:SystemWinEventLog:SecurityWinEventLog:Sysmonauditd:CONFIG_CHANGElinux:osquerylinux:cronfs:fileeventsmacos:endpointsecuritymacos:unifiedlog

How MITRE says to detect it DET0117

Detection of Masqueraded Tasks or Services with Suspicious Naming and Execution

Windows Analytic 0324

Creation or modification of Windows services or scheduled tasks with names or descriptions mimicking legitimate entries, followed by anomalous execution of untrusted binaries or LOLBAS.

WinEventLog:System EventCode=7045
WinEventLog:Security EventCode=4698
WinEventLog:Sysmon EventCode=1

Linux Analytic 0325

Creation or modification of `systemd` service units or cron jobs using deceptive naming and untrusted command paths, often followed by lateral network activity or privilege escalation.

auditd:CONFIG_CHANGE /var/log/audit/audit.log
linux:osquery scheduled/real-time
linux:cron cron activity

macOS Analytic 0326

Creation of LaunchAgents or LaunchDaemons with names resembling known system services but executing non-Apple signed code or scripts.

fs:fileevents /Library/LaunchDaemons/*.plist, ~/Library/LaunchAgents/*.plist
macos:endpointsecurity ES_EVENT_TYPE_NOTIFY_EXEC
macos:unifiedlog subsystem=com.apple.launchservices

View on attack.mitre.org ↗

elastic/detection-rules

5 rules

Detection	Severity	Format
Executable Masquerading as Kernel Process	High	Elastic TOML
Machine Learning Detected a Suspicious Windows Event with a High Malicious Probability Score	High	Elastic TOML
Suspicious Kworker UID Elevation	Medium	Elastic TOML
Machine Learning Detected a Suspicious Windows Event with a Low Malicious Probability Score	Low	Elastic TOML
Network Activity Detected via Kworker	Low	Elastic TOML

SigmaHQ/sigma

3 rules

Detection	Severity	Format
Operation Wocao Activity	High	Sigma
Operation Wocao Activity - Security	High	Sigma
Scheduled Task Creation Masquerading as System Processes	High	Sigma

elastic/protections-artifacts

3 rules

Detection	Severity	Format
Binary Masquerading via Untrusted Path	Undefined	Elastic TOML
Potential Masquerading as SVCHOST	Undefined	Elastic TOML
Potential Masquerading as System Binary	Undefined	Elastic TOML

socfortress/Wazuh-Rules

3 rules

Detection	Severity	Format
Masquerading via bind mount of /proc (T1036.004)	High	Wazuh XML
Process name masquerading via prctl - renamed to 'totally_legit' (T1036.004)	High	Wazuh XML
Potential process hiding by bind-mounting into another PID's /proc entry (T1036.004)	Medium	Wazuh XML

chainguard-dev/osquery-defense-kit

1 rule

Detection	Severity	Format
Processes that have an unrelated name in the process tree than the program on disk.	Undefined	osquery SQL

splunk/security_content

1 rule

Detection	Severity	Format
Linux Kworker Process In Writable Process Path	Undefined	SPL