Name:Windows Masquerading Explorer As Child Process id:61490da9-52a1-4855-a0c5-28233c88c481 version:12 date:2026-04-13 author:Teoderick Contreras, Splunk status:production type:TTP Description:The following analytic identifies instances where explorer.exe is spawned by unusual parent processes such as cmd.exe, powershell.exe, or regsvr32.exe.
This detection leverages data from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents, focusing on process and parent process relationships.
This activity is significant because explorer.exe is typically initiated by userinit.exe, and deviations from this norm can indicate code injection or process masquerading attempts by malware like Qakbot.
If confirmed malicious, this behavior could allow attackers to execute arbitrary code, evade detection, and maintain persistence within the environment. 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.parent_process_name IN ( "cmd.exe", "powershell.exe", "pwsh.exe", "regsvr32.exe" ) Processes.process_name = "explorer.exe" Processes.process IN ("*\\explorer.exe")
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:No false positives have been identified at this time. References: -https://malpedia.caad.fkie.fraunhofer.de/details/win.qakbot 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: - 'Qakbot' - 'Compromised Windows Host' - 'Water Gamayun' asset_type:Endpoint mitre_attack_id: - 'T1574.001' product: - 'Splunk Enterprise' - 'Splunk Enterprise Security' - 'Splunk Cloud' security_domain:endpoint
