Detection: Windows Chromium Process Loaded Extension via Command-Line

Updated Date: 2026-01-12 ID: 1b8a468a-52e3-4206-b14a-73165441684c Author: Teoderick Contreras, Splunk Type: Anomaly Product: Splunk Enterprise Security

Description

The following analytic detects instances where Google Chrome is started with the --load-extension command-line flag, which allows loading unpacked or non-standard extensions. This behavior can indicate attempts to bypass enterprise extension policies, install malicious extensions, or load potentially harmful browser components. Monitoring such activity helps identify unauthorized extension usage, potential malware persistence mechanisms, or policy violations that could compromise browser security.

Search

 1
 2| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime from datamodel=Endpoint.Processes where
 3Processes.process_name = "Chrome.exe"
 4Processes.process= "*--load-extension*"
 5
 6by Processes.action Processes.dest Processes.original_file_name Processes.parent_process
 7   Processes.parent_process_exec Processes.parent_process_guid Processes.parent_process_id
 8   Processes.parent_process_name Processes.parent_process_path Processes.process Processes.process_exec
 9   Processes.process_guid Processes.process_hash Processes.process_id Processes.process_integrity_level
10   Processes.process_name Processes.process_path Processes.user Processes.user_id Processes.vendor_product
11
12| `drop_dm_object_name(Processes)`
13
14| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
15
16| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
17
18| `windows_chromium_process_loaded_extension_via_command_line_filter`

Data Source

Name	Platform	Sourcetype	Source
CrowdStrike ProcessRollup2	Other	`'crowdstrike:events:sensor'`	`'crowdstrike'`
Sysmon EventID 1	Windows	`'XmlWinEventLog'`	`'XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational'`
Windows Event Log Security 4688	Windows	`'XmlWinEventLog'`	`'XmlWinEventLog:Security'`

Macros Used

Name	Value
security_content_ctime	`convert timeformat="%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S" ctime($field$)`
windows_chromium_process_loaded_extension_via_command_line_filter	`search *`

windows_chromium_process_loaded_extension_via_command_line_filter is an empty macro by default. It allows the user to filter out any results (false positives) without editing the SPL.

Annotations

- MITRE ATT&CK

+ Kill Chain Phases

+ NIST

+ CIS

- Threat Actors

ID	Technique	Tactic
T1185	Browser Session Hijacking	Collection

Exploitation

DE.AE

CIS 10

Default Configuration

This detection is configured by default in Splunk Enterprise Security to run with the following settings:

Setting	Value
Disabled	true
Cron Schedule	`0 * * * *`
Earliest Time	`-70m@m`
Latest Time	`-10m@m`
Schedule Window	`auto`
Creates Risk Event	True

This configuration file applies to all detections of type anomaly. These detections will use Risk Based Alerting.

Implementation

To successfully implement this search you need to be ingesting information on process that include the name of the process responsible for the changes from your endpoints into the Endpoint datamodel in the Processes node. In addition, confirm the latest CIM App 4.20 or higher is installed and the latest TA for the endpoint product.

Known False Positives

Developers or IT admins loading unpacked extensions for testing or deployment purposes.

Associated Analytic Story

Browser Hijacking

Risk Based Analytics (RBA)

Risk Message:

A $process_name$ process attempted to load an extension via the commandline $process$ on $dest$.

Risk Object	Risk Object Type	Risk Score	Threat Objects
dest	system	20	parent_process_name, process_name, process

References

https://www.gdatasoftware.com/blog/2025/11/38298-learning-about-browser-hijacking

Detection Testing

Test Type	Status	Dataset	Source	Sourcetype
Validation	✅ Passing	N/A	N/A	N/A
Unit	✅ Passing	Dataset	`XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational`	`XmlWinEventLog`
Integration	✅ Passing	Dataset	`XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational`	`XmlWinEventLog`

Replay any dataset to Splunk Enterprise by using our replay.py tool or the UI. Alternatively you can replay a dataset into a Splunk Attack Range

Source: GitHub | Version: 1