Elastic Defend high stable eql

Potential Privilege Escalation via Token Impersonation

Identifies the creation of a process running as SYSTEM and impersonating a Windows core binary privileges. Adversaries may create a new process with a different token to escalate privileges and bypass access controls.

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Detection Logic

process where event.action == "start" and process.parent.executable != null and

 /* process creation via seclogon */
 process.parent.Ext.real.pid > 0 and

 /* CreateProcessWithToken and effective parent is a privileged MS native binary used as a target for token theft */
 user.id : "S-1-5-18"  and
 process.Ext.effective_parent.executable :
                ("?:\\Windows\\system32\\*.exe",
                 "?:\\Windows\\SysWOW64\\*.exe",
                 "?:\\Windows\\Microsoft.Net\\*.exe",
                 "?:\\Windows\\servicing\\TrustedInstaller.exe",
                 "?:\\Program Files\\Microsoft\\*.exe",
                 "?:\\Program Files (x86)\\Microsoft\\*.exe") and 
                 
 not (process.Ext.effective_parent.executable : "?:\\Windows\\System32\\Utilman.exe" and 
      process.parent.executable : "?:\\Windows\\System32\\Utilman.exe" and process.parent.args : "/debug") and 
      
 not (process.executable : ("?:\\Windows\\System32\\WerFault.exe", 
                            "?:\\Windows\\SysWOW64\\WerFault.exe", 
                            "?:\\Windows\\System32\\WerFaultSecure.exe",
                            "?:\\Windows\\SysWOW64\\WerFaultSecure.exe") and process.args : "-u" and process.args : "-p") and 
                            
 not process.parent.executable : "?:\\Windows\\System32\\AtBroker.exe" and
 not (process.executable : "?:\\Windows\\SoftwareDistribution\\Download\\Install\\securityhealthsetup.exe" and 
      process.parent.executable : "?:\\Windows\\SoftwareDistribution\\Download\\Install\\securityhealthsetup.exe") and 
 not (process.code_signature.subject_name :
                            ("philandro Software GmbH", "Freedom Scientific Inc.", "TeamViewer Germany GmbH",
                             "Projector.is, Inc.", "TeamViewer GmbH", "Cisco WebEx LLC", "TeamViewer", "PURSLANE",
                             "Tranquil I.T. Systems", "VOICEFIVE, INC.", "AnyDesk Software GmbH", "Zhou Huabing",
                             "Remote Utilities LLC", "Bayside Computer Systems Inc") and
      process.code_signature.trusted == true) and
 not (process.executable : "?:\\windows\\system32\\WerMgr.exe" and process.args : "-datacollectorcreate") and
 not process.executable : "?:\\Program Files (x86)\\Dolphin\\SnovaMag*\\dol_logon.exe" and
 not (process.executable : "?:\\Windows\\SoftwareDistribution\\Download\\Install\\securityhealthsetup.exe" and
      process.Ext.effective_parent.executable : "?:\\Windows\\servicing\\TrustedInstaller.exe" and
      process.code_signature.subject_name : "Microsoft Windows Publisher" and process.code_signature.trusted == true) and
 /* ansible exec_wrapper */
 not (process.name : "powershell.exe" and
      process.command_line :
              ("*AkAGUAeABlAGMAXwB3AHIAYQBwAHAAZQByAF8AcwB0AHIALgBTAHAAbABpAHQAKABAACgAIgBgADAAYAAwAGAAMABgADAAIgApA*",
               "*ABzAHAAbABpAHQAXwBwAGEAcgB0AHMAIAA9ACAAJABlAHgAZQBjAF8AdwByAGEAcABwAGUAcgBfAHMAdAByAC4AUwBwAGwAaQB0*",
               "*CgAgACAAIAAgAHQAcgBhAHAAIAB7AAoAIAAgACAAIAAgACAAIAAgACQAdwByAGEAcABwAGUAcgBfAHAAYQB0AGgAIAA9ACAAIgA*", 
               "*JABlAHgAZQBjAF8AdwByAGEAcABwAGUAcgBfAHMAdAByACAAPQAgAFsAUwB5AHMAdABlAG0ALgBDAG8AbgBzAG8AbABlAF0*")) and
 not (process.name : "powershell.exe" and
      process.parent.executable : "C:\\Windows\\system32\\wsmprovhost.exe" and
      process.command_line : "*CQAcwBwAGwAaQB0AF8AcABhAHIAdABzACAAPQAgACQAZQB3AC4AUwBwAGwAaQB0ACgAQAAoACIAYAAwAGAAMABgADAAYAAwACIAKQAsACAAMgAsA*") and
 not (process.executable : "?:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\osk.exe" and
      process.parent.executable : ("?:\\WINDOWS\\System32\\WinLogon.exe", "?:\\Windows\\System32\\LogonUI.exe")) and
 not process.hash.sha256 : ("1e07a7a91451303d5cdac0a1673d581f5f7198fcc08fc79e4332aba6400f55a8",
                            "f3607f433952cb23d9eb0fc5e31fd0c4079cad3133dc79d149022900d208876c") and
 not ((process.executable : "C:\\Windows\\SoftwareDistribution\\Download\\Install\\SecurityHealthSetup.exe" or process.pe.original_file_name == "SecurityHealthSetup.exe") and
      process.Ext.effective_parent.executable : "C:\\Windows\\servicing\\TrustedInstaller.exe" and
      process.code_signature.subject_name in ("Microsoft Corporation", "Microsoft Windows") and process.code_signature.trusted == true)

Field Validations

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