External IP Lookup from Non-Browser Process

Last updated 8 days ago on 2026-10-06
Created 6 years ago on 2020-09-04

About

Identifies domains commonly used by adversaries for post-exploitation IP lookups. It is common for adversaries to test for Internet access and acquire their external IP address after they have gained access to a system. Among others, this has been observed in campaigns leveraging the information stealer, Trickbot.
Tags
Domain: EndpointOS: WindowsUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: DiscoveryData Source: Elastic DefendRule Type: BBRRule Type: Event Correlation (EQL)Platform: WindowsLanguage: eql
Severity
low
Risk Score
21
MITRE ATT&CK™

Discovery (TA0007)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

False Positive Examples
If the domains listed in this rule are used as part of an authorized workflow, this rule will be triggered by those events. Validate that this is expected activity and tune the rule to fit your environment variables.
License
Elastic License v2(external, opens in a new tab or window)

Definition

Rule Type
Event Correlation Rule
Integration Pack
Prebuilt Security Detection Rules
Index Patterns
logs-endpoint.events.network-*
Related Integrations

endpoint(external, opens in a new tab or window)

Query
text code block:
network where host.os.type == "windows" and network.protocol == "dns" and process.name != null and user.id not in ("S-1-5-19", "S-1-5-20") and event.action == "lookup_requested" and /* Add new external IP lookup services here */ dns.question.name : ( "*api.ipify.org", "*freegeoip.app", "*checkip.amazonaws.com", "*checkip.dyndns.org", "*freegeoip.app", "*icanhazip.com", "*ifconfig.*", "*ipecho.net", "*ipgeoapi.com", "*ipinfo.io", "*ip.anysrc.net", "*myexternalip.com", "*myipaddress.com", "*showipaddress.com", "*whatismyipaddress.com", "*wtfismyip.com", "*ipapi.co", "*ip-lookup.net", "*ipstack.com" ) and /* Insert noisy false positives here */ not ( ( process.executable : ( "?:\\Program Files\\*.exe", "?:\\Program Files (x86)\\*.exe", "?:\\Windows\\Prey\\versions\\*\\bin\\node.exe", "?:\\Windows\\System32\\WWAHost.exe", "?:\\Windows\\System32\\smartscreen.exe", "?:\\Windows\\System32\\MicrosoftEdgeCP.exe", "?:\\ProgramData\\Microsoft\\Windows Defender\\Platform\\*\\MsMpEng.exe", "?:\\Users\\*\\AppData\\Local\\Google\\Chrome\\Application\\chrome.exe", "?:\\Users\\*\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Fiddler\\Fiddler.exe", "?:\\Users\\*\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Microsoft VS Code\\Code.exe", "?:\\Users\\*\\AppData\\Local\\Microsoft\\OneDrive\\OneDrive.exe" ) and process.code_signature.trusted == true ) or ( (process.name : "Evernote.exe" and process.code_signature.subject_name : "Evernote Corporation" and process.code_signature.trusted == true) or (process.name : "firefox.exe" and process.code_signature.subject_name : "Mozilla Corporation" and process.code_signature.trusted == true) or (process.name : "Loom.exe" and process.code_signature.subject_name : "Loom, Inc." and process.code_signature.trusted == true) or (process.name : "opera.exe" and process.code_signature.subject_name : "Opera Norway AS" and process.code_signature.trusted == true) or (process.name : "brave.exe" and process.code_signature.subject_name : "Brave Software, Inc." and process.code_signature.trusted == true) or (process.name : "vivaldi.exe" and process.code_signature.subject_name : "Vivaldi Technologies AS" and process.code_signature.trusted == true) ) )

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect External IP Lookup from Non-Browser Process in the Elastic Security detection engine by installing this rule into your Elastic Stack.

To setup this rule, check out the installation guide for Prebuilt Security Detection Rules(external, opens in a new tab or window).