nldcsc-elastic-rules 0.0.8__py3-none-any.whl

nldcsc_elastic_rules/rules/windows/privilege_escalation_uac_bypass_event_viewer.toml

@@ -0,0 +1,179 @@
+[metadata]
+creation_date = "2020/03/17"
+integration = ["endpoint", "windows", "system", "m365_defender", "sentinel_one_cloud_funnel", "crowdstrike"]
+maturity = "production"
+updated_date = "2025/09/11"
+
+[transform]
+[[transform.osquery]]
+label = "Osquery - Retrieve DNS Cache"
+query = "SELECT * FROM dns_cache"
+
+[[transform.osquery]]
+label = "Osquery - Retrieve All Services"
+query = "SELECT description, display_name, name, path, pid, service_type, start_type, status, user_account FROM services"
+
+[[transform.osquery]]
+label = "Osquery - Retrieve Services Running on User Accounts"
+query = """
+SELECT description, display_name, name, path, pid, service_type, start_type, status, user_account FROM services WHERE
+NOT (user_account LIKE '%LocalSystem' OR user_account LIKE '%LocalService' OR user_account LIKE '%NetworkService' OR
+user_account == null)
+"""
+
+[[transform.osquery]]
+label = "Osquery - Retrieve Service Unsigned Executables with Virustotal Link"
+query = """
+SELECT concat('https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/', sha1) AS VtLink, name, description, start_type, status, pid,
+services.path FROM services JOIN authenticode ON services.path = authenticode.path OR services.module_path =
+authenticode.path JOIN hash ON services.path = hash.path WHERE authenticode.result != 'trusted'
+"""
+
+
+[rule]
+author = ["Elastic"]
+description = """
+Identifies User Account Control (UAC) bypass via eventvwr.exe. Attackers bypass UAC to stealthily execute code with
+elevated permissions.
+"""
+from = "now-9m"
+index = [
+    "endgame-*",
+    "logs-crowdstrike.fdr*",
+    "logs-endpoint.events.process-*",
+    "logs-m365_defender.event-*",
+    "logs-sentinel_one_cloud_funnel.*",
+    "logs-system.security*",
+    "logs-windows.forwarded*",
+    "logs-windows.sysmon_operational-*",
+    "winlogbeat-*",
+]
+language = "eql"
+license = "Elastic License v2"
+name = "Bypass UAC via Event Viewer"
+note = """## Triage and analysis
+
+### Investigating Bypass UAC via Event Viewer
+
+Windows User Account Control (UAC) allows a program to elevate its privileges (tracked as low to high integrity levels) to perform a task under administrator-level permissions, possibly by prompting the user for confirmation. UAC can deny an operation under high-integrity enforcement, or allow the user to perform the action if they are in the local administrators group and enter an administrator password when prompted.
+
+For more information about the UAC and how it works, check the [official Microsoft docs page](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/identity-protection/user-account-control/how-user-account-control-works).
+
+During startup, `eventvwr.exe` checks the registry value of the `HKCU\\Software\\Classes\\mscfile\\shell\\open\\command` registry key for the location of `mmc.exe`, which is used to open the `eventvwr.msc` saved console file. If the location of another binary or script is added to this registry value, it will be executed as a high-integrity process without a UAC prompt being displayed to the user. This rule detects this UAC bypass by monitoring processes spawned by `eventvwr.exe` other than `mmc.exe` and `werfault.exe`.
+
+> **Note**:
+> This investigation guide uses the [Osquery Markdown Plugin](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/security/current/invest-guide-run-osquery.html) introduced in Elastic Stack version 8.5.0. Older Elastic Stack versions will display unrendered Markdown in this guide.
+
+#### Possible investigation steps
+
+- Investigate the process execution chain (parent process tree) for unknown processes. Examine their executable files for prevalence, whether they are located in expected locations, and if they are signed with valid digital signatures.
+- Investigate other alerts associated with the user/host during the past 48 hours.
+- Inspect the host for suspicious or abnormal behavior in the alert timeframe.
+- Investigate any abnormal behavior by the subject process such as network connections, registry or file modifications, and any spawned child processes.
+- Examine the host for derived artifacts that indicate suspicious activities:
+  - Analyze the process executable using a private sandboxed analysis system.
+  - Observe and collect information about the following activities in both the sandbox and the alert subject host:
+    - Attempts to contact external domains and addresses.
+      - Use the Elastic Defend network events to determine domains and addresses contacted by the subject process by filtering by the process' `process.entity_id`.
+      - Examine the DNS cache for suspicious or anomalous entries.
+        - $osquery_0
+    - Use the Elastic Defend registry events to examine registry keys accessed, modified, or created by the related processes in the process tree.
+    - Examine the host services for suspicious or anomalous entries.
+      - $osquery_1
+      - $osquery_2
+      - $osquery_3
+  - Retrieve the files' SHA-256 hash values using the PowerShell `Get-FileHash` cmdlet and search for the existence and reputation of the hashes in resources like VirusTotal, Hybrid-Analysis, CISCO Talos, Any.run, etc.
+- Investigate potentially compromised accounts. Analysts can do this by searching for login events (for example, 4624) to the target host after the registry modification.
+
+
+### False positive analysis
+
+- This activity is unlikely to happen legitimately. Benign true positives (B-TPs) can be added as exceptions if necessary.
+
+### Response and remediation
+
+- Initiate the incident response process based on the outcome of the triage.
+- Isolate the involved host to prevent further post-compromise behavior.
+- If the triage identified malware, search the environment for additional compromised hosts.
+  - Implement temporary network rules, procedures, and segmentation to contain the malware.
+  - Stop suspicious processes.
+  - Immediately block the identified indicators of compromise (IoCs).
+  - Inspect the affected systems for additional malware backdoors like reverse shells, reverse proxies, or droppers that attackers could use to reinfect the system.
+- Remove and block malicious artifacts identified during triage.
+- Run a full antimalware scan. This may reveal additional artifacts left in the system, persistence mechanisms, and malware components.
+- Investigate credential exposure on systems compromised or used by the attacker to ensure all compromised accounts are identified. Reset passwords for these accounts and other potentially compromised credentials, such as email, business systems, and web services.
+- Determine the initial vector abused by the attacker and take action to prevent reinfection through the same vector.
+- Using the incident response data, update logging and audit policies to improve the mean time to detect (MTTD) and the mean time to respond (MTTR).
+"""
+risk_score = 73
+rule_id = "31b4c719-f2b4-41f6-a9bd-fce93c2eaf62"
+severity = "high"
+tags = [
+    "Domain: Endpoint",
+    "OS: Windows",
+    "Use Case: Threat Detection",
+    "Tactic: Privilege Escalation",
+    "Tactic: Defense Evasion",
+    "Resources: Investigation Guide",
+    "Data Source: Elastic Endgame",
+    "Data Source: Elastic Defend",
+    "Data Source: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint",
+    "Data Source: Windows Security Event Logs",
+    "Data Source: Sysmon",
+    "Data Source: SentinelOne",
+    "Data Source: Crowdstrike",
+]
+timestamp_override = "event.ingested"
+type = "eql"
+
+query = '''
+process where host.os.type == "windows" and event.type == "start" and
+  process.parent.name : "eventvwr.exe" and
+  not process.executable : (
+        "?:\\Windows\\SysWOW64\\mmc.exe",
+        "?:\\Windows\\System32\\mmc.exe",
+        "?:\\Windows\\SysWOW64\\WerFault.exe",
+        "?:\\Windows\\System32\\WerFault.exe",
+
+        /* Crowdstrike specific exclusion as it uses NT Object paths */
+        "\\Device\\HarddiskVolume*\\Windows\\Sys?????\\mmc.exe",
+        "\\Device\\HarddiskVolume*\\Windows\\Sys?????\\WerFault.exe"
+  )
+'''
+
+
+[[rule.threat]]
+framework = "MITRE ATT&CK"
+[[rule.threat.technique]]
+id = "T1548"
+name = "Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism"
+reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1548/"
+[[rule.threat.technique.subtechnique]]
+id = "T1548.002"
+name = "Bypass User Account Control"
+reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1548/002/"
+
+
+
+[rule.threat.tactic]
+id = "TA0004"
+name = "Privilege Escalation"
+reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0004/"
+[[rule.threat]]
+framework = "MITRE ATT&CK"
+[[rule.threat.technique]]
+id = "T1548"
+name = "Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism"
+reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1548/"
+[[rule.threat.technique.subtechnique]]
+id = "T1548.002"
+name = "Bypass User Account Control"
+reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1548/002/"
+
+
+
+[rule.threat.tactic]
+id = "TA0005"
+name = "Defense Evasion"
+reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0005/"
+

nldcsc_elastic_rules/rules/windows/privilege_escalation_uac_bypass_mock_windir.toml

@@ -0,0 +1,179 @@
+[metadata]
+creation_date = "2020/10/26"
+integration = ["endpoint", "windows", "system", "m365_defender", "sentinel_one_cloud_funnel", "crowdstrike"]
+maturity = "production"
+updated_date = "2025/05/05"
+
+[transform]
+[[transform.osquery]]
+label = "Osquery - Retrieve DNS Cache"
+query = "SELECT * FROM dns_cache"
+
+[[transform.osquery]]
+label = "Osquery - Retrieve All Services"
+query = "SELECT description, display_name, name, path, pid, service_type, start_type, status, user_account FROM services"
+
+[[transform.osquery]]
+label = "Osquery - Retrieve Services Running on User Accounts"
+query = """
+SELECT description, display_name, name, path, pid, service_type, start_type, status, user_account FROM services WHERE
+NOT (user_account LIKE '%LocalSystem' OR user_account LIKE '%LocalService' OR user_account LIKE '%NetworkService' OR
+user_account == null)
+"""
+
+[[transform.osquery]]
+label = "Osquery - Retrieve Service Unsigned Executables with Virustotal Link"
+query = """
+SELECT concat('https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/', sha1) AS VtLink, name, description, start_type, status, pid,
+services.path FROM services JOIN authenticode ON services.path = authenticode.path OR services.module_path =
+authenticode.path JOIN hash ON services.path = hash.path WHERE authenticode.result != 'trusted'
+"""
+
+
+[rule]
+author = ["Elastic"]
+description = """
+Identifies an attempt to bypass User Account Control (UAC) by masquerading as a Microsoft trusted Windows directory.
+Attackers may bypass UAC to stealthily execute code with elevated permissions.
+"""
+from = "now-9m"
+index = [
+    "endgame-*",
+    "logs-crowdstrike.fdr*",
+    "logs-endpoint.events.process-*",
+    "logs-m365_defender.event-*",
+    "logs-sentinel_one_cloud_funnel.*",
+    "logs-system.security*",
+    "logs-windows.forwarded*",
+    "logs-windows.sysmon_operational-*",
+    "winlogbeat-*",
+]
+language = "eql"
+license = "Elastic License v2"
+name = "UAC Bypass Attempt via Windows Directory Masquerading"
+note = """## Triage and analysis
+
+### Investigating UAC Bypass Attempt via Windows Directory Masquerading
+
+Windows User Account Control (UAC) allows a program to elevate its privileges (tracked as low to high integrity levels) to perform a task under administrator-level permissions, possibly by prompting the user for confirmation. UAC can deny an operation under high-integrity enforcement, or allow the user to perform the action if they are in the local administrators group and enter an administrator password when prompted.
+
+For more information about the UAC and how it works, check the [official Microsoft docs page](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/identity-protection/user-account-control/how-user-account-control-works).
+
+This rule identifies an attempt to bypass User Account Control (UAC) by masquerading as a Microsoft trusted Windows directory. Attackers may bypass UAC to stealthily execute code with elevated permissions.
+
+> **Note**:
+> This investigation guide uses the [Osquery Markdown Plugin](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/security/current/invest-guide-run-osquery.html) introduced in Elastic Stack version 8.5.0. Older Elastic Stack versions will display unrendered Markdown in this guide.
+
+#### Possible investigation steps
+
+- Investigate the process execution chain (parent process tree) for unknown processes. Examine their executable files for prevalence, whether they are located in expected locations, and if they are signed with valid digital signatures.
+- Investigate other alerts associated with the user/host during the past 48 hours.
+- Inspect the host for suspicious or abnormal behavior in the alert timeframe.
+- Investigate any abnormal behavior by the subject process such as network connections, registry or file modifications, and any spawned child processes.
+- Examine the host for derived artifacts that indicate suspicious activities:
+  - Analyze any suspicious spawned processes using a private sandboxed analysis system.
+  - Observe and collect information about the following activities in both the sandbox and the alert subject host:
+    - Attempts to contact external domains and addresses.
+      - Use the Elastic Defend network events to determine domains and addresses contacted by the subject process by filtering by the process' `process.entity_id`.
+      - Examine the DNS cache for suspicious or anomalous entries.
+        - $osquery_0
+    - Use the Elastic Defend registry events to examine registry keys accessed, modified, or created by the related processes in the process tree.
+    - Examine the host services for suspicious or anomalous entries.
+      - $osquery_1
+      - $osquery_2
+      - $osquery_3
+  - Retrieve the files' SHA-256 hash values using the PowerShell `Get-FileHash` cmdlet and search for the existence and reputation of the hashes in resources like VirusTotal, Hybrid-Analysis, CISCO Talos, Any.run, etc.
+- Investigate potentially compromised accounts. Analysts can do this by searching for login events (for example, 4624) to the target host after the registry modification.
+
+### False positive analysis
+
+- This activity is unlikely to happen legitimately. Benign true positives (B-TPs) can be added as exceptions if necessary.
+
+### Response and remediation
+
+- Initiate the incident response process based on the outcome of the triage.
+- Isolate the involved host to prevent further post-compromise behavior.
+- If the triage identified malware, search the environment for additional compromised hosts.
+  - Implement temporary network rules, procedures, and segmentation to contain the malware.
+  - Stop suspicious processes.
+  - Immediately block the identified indicators of compromise (IoCs).
+  - Inspect the affected systems for additional malware backdoors like reverse shells, reverse proxies, or droppers that attackers could use to reinfect the system.
+- Remove and block malicious artifacts identified during triage.
+- Run a full antimalware scan. This may reveal additional artifacts left in the system, persistence mechanisms, and malware components.
+- Investigate credential exposure on systems compromised or used by the attacker to ensure all compromised accounts are identified. Reset passwords for these accounts and other potentially compromised credentials, such as email, business systems, and web services.
+- Determine the initial vector abused by the attacker and take action to prevent reinfection through the same vector.
+- Using the incident response data, update logging and audit policies to improve the mean time to detect (MTTD) and the mean time to respond (MTTR).
+"""
+references = ["https://medium.com/tenable-techblog/uac-bypass-by-mocking-trusted-directories-24a96675f6e"]
+risk_score = 73
+rule_id = "290aca65-e94d-403b-ba0f-62f320e63f51"
+severity = "high"
+tags = [
+    "Domain: Endpoint",
+    "OS: Windows",
+    "Use Case: Threat Detection",
+    "Tactic: Privilege Escalation",
+    "Tactic: Defense Evasion",
+    "Resources: Investigation Guide",
+    "Data Source: Elastic Endgame",
+    "Data Source: Elastic Defend",
+    "Data Source: Windows Security Event Logs",
+    "Data Source: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint",
+    "Data Source: Sysmon",
+    "Data Source: SentinelOne",
+    "Data Source: Crowdstrike",
+]
+timestamp_override = "event.ingested"
+type = "eql"
+
+query = '''
+process where host.os.type == "windows" and event.type == "start" and
+  process.args : ("C:\\Windows \\system32\\*.exe", "C:\\Windows \\SysWOW64\\*.exe")
+'''
+
+
+[[rule.threat]]
+framework = "MITRE ATT&CK"
+[[rule.threat.technique]]
+id = "T1548"
+name = "Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism"
+reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1548/"
+[[rule.threat.technique.subtechnique]]
+id = "T1548.002"
+name = "Bypass User Account Control"
+reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1548/002/"
+
+
+
+[rule.threat.tactic]
+id = "TA0004"
+name = "Privilege Escalation"
+reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0004/"
+[[rule.threat]]
+framework = "MITRE ATT&CK"
+[[rule.threat.technique]]
+id = "T1036"
+name = "Masquerading"
+reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1036/"
+[[rule.threat.technique.subtechnique]]
+id = "T1036.005"
+name = "Match Legitimate Resource Name or Location"
+reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1036/005/"
+
+
+[[rule.threat.technique]]
+id = "T1548"
+name = "Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism"
+reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1548/"
+[[rule.threat.technique.subtechnique]]
+id = "T1548.002"
+name = "Bypass User Account Control"
+reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1548/002/"
+
+
+
+[rule.threat.tactic]
+id = "TA0005"
+name = "Defense Evasion"
+reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0005/"
+

nldcsc_elastic_rules/rules/windows/privilege_escalation_uac_bypass_winfw_mmc_hijack.toml

@@ -0,0 +1,177 @@
+[metadata]
+creation_date = "2020/10/14"
+integration = ["endpoint", "windows", "m365_defender", "sentinel_one_cloud_funnel"]
+maturity = "production"
+updated_date = "2025/03/20"
+
+[transform]
+[[transform.osquery]]
+label = "Osquery - Retrieve DNS Cache"
+query = "SELECT * FROM dns_cache"
+
+[[transform.osquery]]
+label = "Osquery - Retrieve All Services"
+query = "SELECT description, display_name, name, path, pid, service_type, start_type, status, user_account FROM services"
+
+[[transform.osquery]]
+label = "Osquery - Retrieve Services Running on User Accounts"
+query = """
+SELECT description, display_name, name, path, pid, service_type, start_type, status, user_account FROM services WHERE
+NOT (user_account LIKE '%LocalSystem' OR user_account LIKE '%LocalService' OR user_account LIKE '%NetworkService' OR
+user_account == null)
+"""
+
+[[transform.osquery]]
+label = "Osquery - Retrieve Service Unsigned Executables with Virustotal Link"
+query = """
+SELECT concat('https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/', sha1) AS VtLink, name, description, start_type, status, pid,
+services.path FROM services JOIN authenticode ON services.path = authenticode.path OR services.module_path =
+authenticode.path JOIN hash ON services.path = hash.path WHERE authenticode.result != 'trusted'
+"""
+
+
+[rule]
+author = ["Elastic"]
+description = """
+Identifies attempts to bypass User Account Control (UAC) by hijacking the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) Windows
+Firewall snap-in. Attackers bypass UAC to stealthily execute code with elevated permissions.
+"""
+from = "now-9m"
+index = [
+    "winlogbeat-*",
+    "logs-endpoint.events.process-*",
+    "logs-windows.sysmon_operational-*",
+    "endgame-*",
+    "logs-m365_defender.event-*",
+    "logs-sentinel_one_cloud_funnel.*",
+]
+language = "eql"
+license = "Elastic License v2"
+name = "UAC Bypass via Windows Firewall Snap-In Hijack"
+note = """## Triage and analysis
+
+### Investigating UAC Bypass via Windows Firewall Snap-In Hijack
+
+Windows User Account Control (UAC) allows a program to elevate its privileges (tracked as low to high integrity levels) to perform a task under administrator-level permissions, possibly by prompting the user for confirmation. UAC can deny an operation under high-integrity enforcement, or allow the user to perform the action if they are in the local administrators group and enter an administrator password when prompted.
+
+For more information about the UAC and how it works, check the [official Microsoft docs page](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/identity-protection/user-account-control/how-user-account-control-works).
+
+This rule identifies attempts to bypass User Account Control (UAC) by hijacking the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) Windows Firewall snap-in. Attackers bypass UAC to stealthily execute code with elevated permissions.
+
+> **Note**:
+> This investigation guide uses the [Osquery Markdown Plugin](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/security/current/invest-guide-run-osquery.html) introduced in Elastic Stack version 8.5.0. Older Elastic Stack versions will display unrendered Markdown in this guide.
+
+#### Possible investigation steps
+
+- Investigate the process execution chain (parent process tree) for unknown processes. Examine their executable files for prevalence, whether they are located in expected locations, and if they are signed with valid digital signatures.
+- Investigate other alerts associated with the user/host during the past 48 hours.
+- Inspect the host for suspicious or abnormal behavior in the alert timeframe.
+- Investigate any abnormal behavior by the subject process such as network connections, registry or file modifications, and any spawned child processes.
+- Examine the host for derived artifacts that indicate suspicious activities:
+  - Analyze any suspicious spawned processes using a private sandboxed analysis system.
+  - Observe and collect information about the following activities in both the sandbox and the alert subject host:
+    - Attempts to contact external domains and addresses.
+      - Use the Elastic Defend network events to determine domains and addresses contacted by the subject process by filtering by the process' `process.entity_id`.
+      - Examine the DNS cache for suspicious or anomalous entries.
+        - $osquery_0
+    - Use the Elastic Defend registry events to examine registry keys accessed, modified, or created by the related processes in the process tree.
+    - Examine the host services for suspicious or anomalous entries.
+      - $osquery_1
+      - $osquery_2
+      - $osquery_3
+  - Retrieve the files' SHA-256 hash values using the PowerShell `Get-FileHash` cmdlet and search for the existence and reputation of the hashes in resources like VirusTotal, Hybrid-Analysis, CISCO Talos, Any.run, etc.
+- Investigate potentially compromised accounts. Analysts can do this by searching for login events (for example, 4624) to the target host after the registry modification.
+
+### False positive analysis
+
+- This activity is unlikely to happen legitimately. Benign true positives (B-TPs) can be added as exceptions if necessary.
+
+### Response and remediation
+
+- Initiate the incident response process based on the outcome of the triage.
+- Isolate the involved host to prevent further post-compromise behavior.
+- If the triage identified malware, search the environment for additional compromised hosts.
+  - Implement temporary network rules, procedures, and segmentation to contain the malware.
+  - Stop suspicious processes.
+  - Immediately block the identified indicators of compromise (IoCs).
+  - Inspect the affected systems for additional malware backdoors like reverse shells, reverse proxies, or droppers that attackers could use to reinfect the system.
+- Remove and block malicious artifacts identified during triage.
+- Run a full antimalware scan. This may reveal additional artifacts left in the system, persistence mechanisms, and malware components.
+- Investigate credential exposure on systems compromised or used by the attacker to ensure all compromised accounts are identified. Reset passwords for these accounts and other potentially compromised credentials, such as email, business systems, and web services.
+- Determine the initial vector abused by the attacker and take action to prevent reinfection through the same vector.
+- Using the incident response data, update logging and audit policies to improve the mean time to detect (MTTD) and the mean time to respond (MTTR).
+"""
+references = ["https://github.com/AzAgarampur/byeintegrity-uac"]
+risk_score = 47
+rule_id = "1178ae09-5aff-460a-9f2f-455cd0ac4d8e"
+severity = "medium"
+tags = [
+    "Domain: Endpoint",
+    "OS: Windows",
+    "Use Case: Threat Detection",
+    "Tactic: Privilege Escalation",
+    "Tactic: Defense Evasion",
+    "Resources: Investigation Guide",
+    "Data Source: Elastic Endgame",
+    "Data Source: Elastic Defend",
+    "Data Source: Sysmon",
+    "Data Source: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint",
+    "Data Source: SentinelOne",
+]
+timestamp_override = "event.ingested"
+type = "eql"
+
+query = '''
+process where host.os.type == "windows" and event.type == "start" and
+ process.parent.name == "mmc.exe" and
+ /* process.Ext.token.integrity_level_name == "high" can be added in future for tuning */
+ /* args of the Windows Firewall SnapIn */
+  process.parent.args == "WF.msc" and process.name != "WerFault.exe"
+'''
+
+
+[[rule.threat]]
+framework = "MITRE ATT&CK"
+[[rule.threat.technique]]
+id = "T1548"
+name = "Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism"
+reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1548/"
+[[rule.threat.technique.subtechnique]]
+id = "T1548.002"
+name = "Bypass User Account Control"
+reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1548/002/"
+
+
+
+[rule.threat.tactic]
+id = "TA0004"
+name = "Privilege Escalation"
+reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0004/"
+[[rule.threat]]
+framework = "MITRE ATT&CK"
+[[rule.threat.technique]]
+id = "T1218"
+name = "System Binary Proxy Execution"
+reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1218/"
+[[rule.threat.technique.subtechnique]]
+id = "T1218.014"
+name = "MMC"
+reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1218/014/"
+
+
+[[rule.threat.technique]]
+id = "T1548"
+name = "Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism"
+reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1548/"
+[[rule.threat.technique.subtechnique]]
+id = "T1548.002"
+name = "Bypass User Account Control"
+reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1548/002/"
+
+
+
+[rule.threat.tactic]
+id = "TA0005"
+name = "Defense Evasion"
+reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0005/"
+

nldcsc_elastic_rules/rules/windows/privilege_escalation_unquoted_service_path.toml

@@ -0,0 +1,108 @@
+[metadata]
+creation_date = "2023/07/13"
+integration = ["endpoint", "m365_defender", "sentinel_one_cloud_funnel", "windows", "system", "crowdstrike"]
+maturity = "production"
+updated_date = "2025/08/26"
+
+[rule]
+author = ["Elastic"]
+description = """
+Adversaries may leverage unquoted service path vulnerabilities to escalate privileges. By placing an executable in a
+higher-level directory within the path of an unquoted service executable, Windows will natively launch this executable
+from its defined path variable instead of the benign one in a deeper directory, thus leading to code execution.
+"""
+from = "now-9m"
+index = [
+    "endgame-*",
+    "logs-endpoint.events.process-*",
+    "logs-m365_defender.event-*",
+    "logs-sentinel_one_cloud_funnel.*",
+    "logs-system.security*",
+    "logs-windows.sysmon_operational-*",
+    "logs-crowdstrike.fdr*",
+]
+language = "eql"
+license = "Elastic License v2"
+name = "Potential Exploitation of an Unquoted Service Path Vulnerability"
+note = """## Triage and analysis
+
+> **Disclaimer**:
+> This investigation guide was created using generative AI technology and has been reviewed to improve its accuracy and relevance. While every effort has been made to ensure its quality, we recommend validating the content and adapting it to suit your specific environment and operational needs.
+
+### Investigating Potential Exploitation of an Unquoted Service Path Vulnerability
+
+Unquoted service paths in Windows can be exploited by adversaries to escalate privileges. When a service path lacks quotes, Windows may execute a malicious executable placed in a higher-level directory. The detection rule identifies suspicious processes starting from common unquoted paths, signaling potential exploitation attempts. This helps in early detection and mitigation of privilege escalation threats.
+
+### Possible investigation steps
+
+- Review the process executable path to confirm if it matches the patterns specified in the query, such as "?:\\\\Program.exe" or executables within "C:\\\\Program Files (x86)\\\\" or "C:\\\\Program Files\\\\".
+- Check the parent process of the suspicious executable to determine how it was initiated and assess if it aligns with expected behavior.
+- Investigate the file creation and modification timestamps of the suspicious executable to identify any recent changes that could indicate malicious activity.
+- Analyze the user account associated with the process start event to determine if it has the necessary privileges and if the activity is consistent with the user's typical behavior.
+- Examine the system's event logs for any related activities or anomalies around the time the suspicious process was started, such as other process executions or file modifications.
+- Cross-reference the executable's hash with known threat intelligence databases to identify if it is associated with any known malware or suspicious activity.
+
+### False positive analysis
+
+- Legitimate software installations or updates may trigger the rule if they temporarily create executables in common unquoted paths. Users can create exceptions for known software update processes to prevent unnecessary alerts.
+- System administrators might use scripts or tools that inadvertently place executables in unquoted paths for legitimate purposes. Identifying and documenting these tools can help in setting up exclusions.
+- Some enterprise applications may have legitimate executables in unquoted paths due to legacy configurations. Review and verify these applications, then configure exceptions for them to avoid false positives.
+- Regularly scheduled tasks or maintenance scripts that run from unquoted paths can be mistaken for malicious activity. Ensure these tasks are documented and excluded from the rule if they are verified as safe.
+- Security tools or monitoring software might simulate or test unquoted path vulnerabilities as part of their operations. Confirm these activities with the security team and exclude them if they are part of routine security assessments.
+
+### Response and remediation
+
+- Immediately isolate the affected system from the network to prevent further exploitation or lateral movement by the adversary.
+- Terminate any suspicious processes identified by the detection rule, specifically those matching the unquoted service path pattern.
+- Conduct a thorough review of the service configurations on the affected system to identify and correct any unquoted service paths. Ensure all service paths are properly quoted to prevent future exploitation.
+- Remove any unauthorized executables found in higher-level directories that could be used to exploit the unquoted service path vulnerability.
+- Restore the affected system from a known good backup if malicious activity is confirmed and system integrity is compromised.
+- Escalate the incident to the security operations center (SOC) or incident response team for further investigation and to determine if additional systems are affected.
+- Implement enhanced monitoring and logging for similar suspicious activities across the network to detect and respond to future attempts promptly."""
+risk_score = 21
+rule_id = "12de29d4-bbb0-4eef-b687-857e8a163870"
+severity = "low"
+tags = [
+    "Domain: Endpoint",
+    "OS: Windows",
+    "Use Case: Threat Detection",
+    "Tactic: Privilege Escalation",
+    "Data Source: Elastic Defend",
+    "Data Source: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint",
+    "Data Source: SentinelOne",
+    "Data Source: Elastic Endgame",
+    "Data Source: Sysmon",
+    "Data Source: Windows Security Event Logs",
+    "Data Source: Crowdstrike",
+    "Resources: Investigation Guide",
+]
+timestamp_override = "event.ingested"
+type = "eql"
+
+query = '''
+process where host.os.type == "windows" and event.type == "start" and
+  (
+    process.executable : "?:\\Program.exe" or
+    process.executable regex """(C:\\Program Files \(x86\)\\|C:\\Program Files\\)\w+.exe"""
+  )
+'''
+
+
+[[rule.threat]]
+framework = "MITRE ATT&CK"
+[[rule.threat.technique]]
+id = "T1574"
+name = "Hijack Execution Flow"
+reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1574/"
+[[rule.threat.technique.subtechnique]]
+id = "T1574.009"
+name = "Path Interception by Unquoted Path"
+reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1574/009/"
+
+
+
+[rule.threat.tactic]
+id = "TA0004"
+name = "Privilege Escalation"
+reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0004/"
+