Windows Execute Arbitrary Commands with MSDT

Original Source: [splunk source]
Name:Windows Execute Arbitrary Commands with MSDT
id:e1d5145f-38fe-42b9-a5d5-457796715f97
version:7
date:2024-11-28
author:Michael Haag, Teoderick Contreras, Splunk
status:production
type:TTP
Description:The following analytic detects arbitrary command execution using Windows msdt.exe, a Diagnostics Troubleshooting Wizard. It leverages Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) data to identify instances where msdt.exe is invoked via the ms-msdt:/ protocol handler to retrieve a remote payload. This activity is significant as it can indicate an exploitation attempt leveraging msdt.exe to execute arbitrary commands, potentially leading to unauthorized code execution. If confirmed malicious, this could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code, escalate privileges, or persist within the environment, posing a severe security risk.
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=msdt.exe Processes.process IN ("*msdt*","*ms-msdt:*","*ms-msdt:/id*","*ms-msdt:-id*","*/id*") AND (Processes.process="*IT_BrowseForFile=*" OR Processes.process="*IT_RebrowseForFile=*" OR Processes.process="*.xml*") AND Processes.process="*PCWDiagnostic*" by Processes.dest Processes.user Processes.parent_process_name Processes.process_name Processes.process Processes.process_id Processes.parent_process_id
| `drop_dm_object_name(Processes)`
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`| `windows_execute_arbitrary_commands_with_msdt_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:False positives may be present, filter as needed. Added .xml to potentially capture any answer file usage. Remove as needed.
References:
  -https://isc.sans.edu/diary/rss/28694
  -https://doublepulsar.com/follina-a-microsoft-office-code-execution-vulnerability-1a47fce5629e
  -https://twitter.com/nao_sec/status/1530196847679401984?s=20&t=ZiXYI4dQuA-0_dzQzSUb3A
  -https://app.any.run/tasks/713f05d2-fe78-4b9d-a744-f7c133e3fafb/
  -https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/4a24048f81afbe9fb62e7a6a49adbd1faf41f266b5f9feecdceb567aec096784/detection
  -https://strontic.github.io/xcyclopedia/library/msdt.exe-152D4C9F63EFB332CCB134C6953C0104.html
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:
    - 'Compromised Windows Host'
    - 'Microsoft Support Diagnostic Tool Vulnerability CVE-2022-30190'
  asset_type:Endpoint
  confidence:100
  cve:
    - 'CVE-2022-30190'
  impact:100
  message:A parent process $parent_process_name$ has spawned a child process $process_name$ on host $dest$ possibly indicative of indirect command execution.
  mitre_attack_id:
    - 'T1218'
  observable:
    name:'user'
    type:'User'
    - role:
      - 'Victim'
    name:'dest'
    type:'Hostname'
    - role:
      - 'Victim'
    name:'parent_process_name'
    type:'Process'
    - role:
      - 'Attacker'
    name:'process_name'
    type:'Process'
    - role:
      - 'Attacker'
  product:
    - 'Splunk Enterprise'
    - 'Splunk Enterprise Security'
    - 'Splunk Cloud'
  required_fields:
    - '_time'
    - 'Processes.dest'
    - 'Processes.user'
    - 'Processes.parent_process_name'
    - 'Processes.parent_process'
    - 'Processes.original_file_name'
    - 'Processes.process_name'
    - 'Processes.process'
    - 'Processes.process_id'
    - 'Processes.parent_process_path'
    - 'Processes.process_path'
    - 'Processes.parent_process_id'
  risk_score:100
  security_domain:endpoint

tests:
name:'True Positive Test'
 attack_data:
  data: https://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/attack_techniques/T1566.001/macro/msdt.log
  source: XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational
  sourcetype: XmlWinEventLog
  update_timestamp: True
manual_test:None