Name:Windows Disable Internet Explorer Addons id:65224d8b-b95d-44ec-bb44-408d830c1258 version:1 date:2025-05-26 author:Teoderick Contreras, Splunk status:production type:Anomaly Description:The following analytic detects the execution of iexplore.exe (Internet Explorer) with the -extoff command-line flag, which disables all browser extensions. This flag is commonly abused by adversaries to launch a clean browser session that bypasses security controls such as antivirus browser extensions, toolbars, or group policy-enforced add-ons.
Malicious documents or scripts may leverage iexplore.exe -extoff to open phishing pages, command-and-control interfaces, or download additional payloads in an environment free from security monitoring plugins. While this flag may be used legitimately by IT administrators for troubleshooting purposes, its use in modern enterprise environments is rare and should be considered suspicious—particularly when launched by Office applications, scripting engines (e.g., PowerShell, WScript), or scheduled tasks.
Data_source:
-Sysmon EventID 1
-Windows Event Log Security 4688
-CrowdStrike ProcessRollup2
search:| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime from datamodel=Endpoint.Processes where (Processes.process_name = "iexplore.exe" OR Processes.original_file_name="IEXPLORE.EXE") Processes.process = "*-extoff*" by Processes.action Processes.dest Processes.original_file_name Processes.parent_process Processes.parent_process_exec Processes.parent_process_guid Processes.parent_process_id Processes.parent_process_name Processes.parent_process_path Processes.process Processes.process_exec Processes.process_guid Processes.process_hash Processes.process_id Processes.process_integrity_level Processes.process_name Processes.process_path Processes.user Processes.user_id Processes.vendor_product | `drop_dm_object_name(Processes)` | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` | `windows_disable_internet_explorer_addons_filter`
how_to_implement: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` 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:Administrators may enable or disable this feature that may cause some false positive. References: -https://www.hybrid-analysis.com/sample/e285feeca968b3ca22017a64363eea5e69ccd519696671df523291b089597875/588175f1aac2edf92bbed32f drilldown_searches: name:'View the detection results for - "$user$" and "$dest$"' search:'%original_detection_search% | search user = "$user$" dest = "$dest$"' earliest_offset:'$info_min_time$' latest_offset:'$info_max_time$' name:'View risk events for the last 7 days for - "$user$" and "$dest$"' search:'| from datamodel Risk.All_Risk | search normalized_risk_object IN ("$user$", "$dest$") 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: - 'Malicious Inno Setup Loader' asset_type:Endpoint mitre_attack_id: - 'T1176.001' product: - 'Splunk Enterprise' - 'Splunk Enterprise Security' - 'Splunk Cloud' security_domain:endpoint
