Excessive Attempt To Disable Services

Original Source: [splunk source]
Name:Excessive Attempt To Disable Services
id:8fa2a0f0-acd9-11eb-8994-acde48001122
version:4
date:2024-09-30
author:Teoderick Contreras, Splunk
status:production
type:Anomaly
Description:The following analytic identifies a suspicious series of command-line executions attempting to disable multiple services. It leverages data from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents, focusing on processes where "sc.exe" is used with parameters like "config" or "Disabled" within a short time frame. This activity is significant as it may indicate an adversary's attempt to disable security or other critical services to further compromise the system. If confirmed malicious, this could lead to the attacker achieving persistence, evading detection, or disabling security mechanisms, thereby increasing the risk of further exploitation.
Data_source:
  • -Sysmon EventID 1
  • -Windows Event Log Security 4688
  • -CrowdStrike ProcessRollup2
search:| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` values(Processes.process) as process values(Processes.process_id) as process_id count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime from datamodel=Endpoint.Processes where Processes.process_name = "sc.exe" AND Processes.process="*config*" OR Processes.process="*Disabled*" by Processes.process_name Processes.parent_process_name Processes.dest Processes.user _time span=1m
| where count >=4
| `drop_dm_object_name(Processes)`
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
| `excessive_attempt_to_disable_services_filter`


how_to_implement: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:unknown
References:
  -https://thedfirreport.com/2020/04/20/sqlserver-or-the-miner-in-the-basement/
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:
    - 'XMRig'
    - 'Azorult'
  asset_type:Endpoint
  confidence:100
  impact:80
  message:An excessive amount of $process_name$ was executed on $dest$ attempting to disable services.
  mitre_attack_id:
    - 'T1489'
  observable:
    name:'dest'
    type:'Hostname'
    - role:
      - 'Victim'
    name:'process_name'
    type:'Process'
    - role:
      - 'Attacker'
  product:
    - 'Splunk Enterprise'
    - 'Splunk Enterprise Security'
    - 'Splunk Cloud'
  required_fields:
    - '_time'
    - 'Processes.process'
    - 'Processes.process_id'
    - 'Processes.process_name'
    - 'Processes.parent_process_name'
    - 'Processes.dest'
    - 'Processes.user'
  risk_score:80
  security_domain:endpoint

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

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XMRig

Azorult