Permission Modification using Takeown App

Original Source: [splunk source]
Name:Permission Modification using Takeown App
id:fa7ca5c6-c9d8-11eb-bce9-acde48001122
version:3
date:2024-09-30
author:Teoderick Contreras, Splunk
status:production
type:TTP
Description:The following analytic detects the modification of file or directory permissions using the takeown.exe Windows application. It leverages data from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents, focusing on process execution logs that include process GUID, process name, and command-line details. This activity is significant because it is a common technique used by ransomware to take ownership of files or folders for encryption or deletion. If confirmed malicious, this could lead to unauthorized access, data encryption, or data destruction, severely impacting the integrity and availability of critical data.
Data_source:
  • -Sysmon EventID 1
  • -Windows Event Log Security 4688
  • -CrowdStrike ProcessRollup2
search:| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime from datamodel=Endpoint.Processes where Processes.process_name = "takeown.exe" Processes.process = "*/f*" by Processes.parent_process_name Processes.parent_process Processes.process_name Processes.process Processes.dest Processes.user Processes.process_id Processes.process_guid
| `drop_dm_object_name(Processes)`
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
| `permission_modification_using_takeown_app_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:takeown.exe is a normal windows application that may used by network operator.
References:
  -https://research.nccgroup.com/2020/06/23/wastedlocker-a-new-ransomware-variant-developed-by-the-evil-corp-group/
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:
    - 'Ransomware'
    - 'Sandworm Tools'
  asset_type:Endpoint
  confidence:80
  impact:70
  message:A suspicious of execution of $process_name$ with process id $process_id$ and commandline $process$ to modify permission of directory or files in host $dest$
  mitre_attack_id:
    - 'T1222'
  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.parent_process_name'
    - 'Processes.parent_process'
    - 'Processes.process_name'
    - 'Processes.process'
    - 'Processes.dest'
    - 'Processes.user'
    - 'Processes.process_id'
    - 'Processes.process_guid'
  risk_score:56
  security_domain:endpoint

tests:
name:'True Positive Test'
 attack_data:
  data: https://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/malware/ransomware_ttp/data1/windows-sysmon.log
  source: XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational
  sourcetype: XmlWinEventLog
manual_test:None

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