Detection: Windows MSIExec Remote Download

Description

The following analytic detects the use of msiexec.exe with an HTTP or HTTPS URL in the command line, indicating a remote file download attempt. This detection leverages data from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents, focusing on process execution logs that include command-line details. This activity is significant as it may indicate an attempt to download and execute potentially malicious software from a remote server. If confirmed malicious, this could lead to unauthorized code execution, system compromise, or further malware deployment within the network.

Search

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

Data Source

Name	Platform	Sourcetype	Source
Cisco Network Visibility Module Flow Data	Network	'cisco:nvm:flowdata'	'not_applicable'
CrowdStrike ProcessRollup2	N/A	'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

Annotations

Default Configuration

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

Implementation

The detection is based on data that originates from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents. These agents are designed to provide security-related telemetry from the endpoints where the agent is installed. To implement this search, you must ingest logs that contain the process GUID, process name, and parent process. Additionally, you must ingest complete command-line executions. These logs must be processed using the appropriate Splunk Technology Add-ons that are specific to the EDR product. The logs must also be mapped to the Processes node of the Endpoint data model. Use the Splunk Common Information Model (CIM) to normalize the field names and speed up the data modeling process.

Known False Positives

False positives may be present, filter by destination or parent process as needed.

Associated Analytic Story

• Cisco Network Visibility Module Analytics

• Water Gamayun

• Windows System Binary Proxy Execution MSIExec

Risk Based Analytics (RBA)

Risk Message:

An instance of $parent_process_name$ spawning $process_name$ was identified on endpoint $dest$ by user $user$ attempting to download a remote file.

References

• https://thedfirreport.com/2022/06/06/will-the-real-msiexec-please-stand-up-exploit-leads-to-data-exfiltration/

• https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/master/atomics/T1218.007/T1218.007.md

Detection Testing

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: 10