Detection: Process Writing DynamicWrapperX

Updated Date: 2024-08-15 ID: b0a078e4-2601-11ec-9aec-acde48001122 Author: Michael Haag, Splunk Type: Hunting Product: Splunk Enterprise Security

Description

The following analytic detects a process writing the dynwrapx.dll file to disk and registering it in the registry. It leverages data from the Endpoint datamodel, specifically monitoring process and filesystem events. This activity is significant because DynamicWrapperX is an ActiveX component often used in scripts to call Windows API functions, and its presence in non-standard locations is highly suspicious. If confirmed malicious, this could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code, escalate privileges, or maintain persistence within the environment. Immediate investigation of parallel processes and registry modifications is recommended.

Search

 1
 2| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count FROM datamodel=Endpoint.Processes by _time Processes.process_id Processes.process_name Processes.dest Processes.process_guid Processes.user 
 3| `drop_dm_object_name(Processes)` 
 4| join process_guid [
 5| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count FROM datamodel=Endpoint.Filesystem where Filesystem.file_name="dynwrapx.dll" by _time Filesystem.dest Filesystem.file_create_time Filesystem.file_name Filesystem.file_path Filesystem.process_guid Filesystem.user 
 6| `drop_dm_object_name(Filesystem)` 
 7| fields _time process_guid file_path file_name file_create_time user dest process_name] 
 8| stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime by dest process_name process_guid file_name file_path file_create_time user 
 9| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` 
10| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` 
11| `process_writing_dynamicwrapperx_filter`

Data Source

Name	Platform	Sourcetype	Source	Supported App
Sysmon EventID 1	Windows	`'xmlwineventlog'`	`'XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational'`	N/A

Macros Used

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

process_writing_dynamicwrapperx_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
T1059	Command and Scripting Interpreter	Execution
T1559.001	Component Object Model	Execution

KillChainPhase.INSTALLATION

NistCategory.DE_AE

Cis18Value.CIS_10

APT19

APT32

APT37

APT39

Dragonfly

FIN5

FIN6

FIN7

Fox Kitten

Ke3chang

OilRig

Stealth Falcon

Whitefly

Windigo

Gamaredon Group

MuddyWater

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	False

This configuration file applies to all detections of type hunting.

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 and Filesystem 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

False positives should be limited, however it is possible to filter by Processes.process_name and specific processes (ex. wscript.exe). Filter as needed. This may need modification based on EDR telemetry and how it brings in registry data. For example, removal of (Default).

Associated Analytic Story

Remcos

Risk Based Analytics (RBA)

Risk Message	Risk Score	Impact	Confidence
An instance of $process_name$ was identified on endpoint $dest$ downloading the DynamicWrapperX dll.	80	80	100

The Risk Score is calculated by the following formula: Risk Score = (Impact * Confidence/100). Initial Confidence and Impact is set by the analytic author.

References

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: 3