Create Remote Thread In Shell Application

Name:Create Remote Thread In Shell Application
id:10399c1e-f51e-11eb-b920-acde48001122
version:7
date:2024-12-10
author:Teoderick Contreras, Splunk
status:production
type:TTP
Description:The following analytic detects suspicious process injection in command shell applications, specifically targeting `cmd.exe` and `powershell.exe`. It leverages Sysmon EventCode 8 to identify the creation of remote threads within these shell processes. This activity is significant because it is a common technique used by malware, such as IcedID, to inject malicious code and execute it within legitimate processes. If confirmed malicious, this behavior could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code, escalate privileges, or maintain persistence within the environment, posing a severe threat to system security.
Data_source:

• -Sysmon EventID 8

search:`sysmon` EventCode=8 TargetImage IN ("*\\cmd.exe", "*\\powershell*", "*\\pwsh.exe")
| stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime by EventID Guid NewThreadId ProcessID SecurityID SourceImage SourceProcessGuid SourceProcessId StartAddress StartFunction StartModule TargetImage TargetProcessGuid TargetProcessId UserID dest parent_process_exec parent_process_guid parent_process_id parent_process_name parent_process_path process_exec process_guid process_id process_name process_path signature signature_id user_id vendor_product
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
| `create_remote_thread_in_shell_application_filter`

how_to_implement:To successfully implement this search, you need to be ingesting logs with the process name, parent process, and command-line executions from your endpoints. If you are using Sysmon, you must have at least version 6.0.4 of the Sysmon TA.
known_false_positives:unknown
References:
  -https://thedfirreport.com/2021/07/19/icedid-and-cobalt-strike-vs-antivirus/
drilldown_searches:
 name:'View the detection results for - "$dest$"'
 search:'%original_detection_search% | search dest = "$dest$"'
 earliest_offset:'$info_min_time$'
 latest_offset:'$info_max_time$'
 name:'View risk events for the last 7 days for - "$dest$"'
 search:'| from datamodel Risk.All_Risk | search normalized_risk_object IN ("$dest$") starthoursago=168 | stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime values(search_name) as "Search Name" values(risk_message) as "Risk Message" values(analyticstories) as "Analytic Stories" values(annotations._all) as "Annotations" values(annotations.mitre_attack.mitre_tactic) as "ATT&CK Tactics" by normalized_risk_object | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`'
 earliest_offset:'$info_min_time$'
 latest_offset:'$info_max_time$'
tags:
  analytic_story:
    - 'IcedID'
    - 'Qakbot'
    - 'Warzone RAT'
  asset_type:Endpoint
  mitre_attack_id:
    - 'T1055'
  product:
    - 'Splunk Enterprise'
    - 'Splunk Enterprise Security'
    - 'Splunk Cloud'
  security_domain:endpoint

tests:
 name:'True Positive Test'
 attack_data:
  data: https://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/malware/icedid/simulated_icedid/windows-sysmon.log
  source: XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational
  sourcetype: XmlWinEventLog
manual_test:None