Elastic Security Detection Rules

UAC Bypass via DiskCleanup Scheduled Task Hijack

Last updated 4 months ago on 2025-08-28
Created 5 years ago on 2020-08-18

About

Identifies User Account Control (UAC) bypass via hijacking DiskCleanup Scheduled Task. Attackers bypass UAC to stealthily execute code with elevated permissions.
Tags
Domain: EndpointOS: WindowsUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: Privilege EscalationTactic: Defense EvasionTactic: ExecutionData Source: Elastic EndgameData Source: Elastic DefendData Source: Windows Security Event LogsData Source: Microsoft Defender for EndpointData Source: SysmonData Source: SentinelOneData Source: CrowdstrikeLanguage: eql
Severity
medium
Risk Score
47
MITRE ATT&CK™

Privilege Escalation (TA0004)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

↳ Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism (T1548)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

Defense Evasion (TA0005)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

↳ Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism (T1548)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

Execution (TA0002)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

↳ Scheduled Task/Job (T1053)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

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
endgame-*logs-crowdstrike.fdr*logs-endpoint.events.process-*logs-m365_defender.event-*logs-sentinel_one_cloud_funnel.*logs-system.security*logs-windows.forwarded*logs-windows.sysmon_operational-*winlogbeat-*
Related Integrations

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

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

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

m365_defender(external, opens in a new tab or window)

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

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

Query
text code block:
process where host.os.type == "windows" and event.type == "start" and
 process.args : "/autoclean" and process.args : "/d" and process.executable != null and
 not process.executable : (
        "C:\\Windows\\System32\\cleanmgr.exe",
        "C:\\Windows\\SysWOW64\\cleanmgr.exe",
        "C:\\Windows\\System32\\taskhostw.exe",

        /* Crowdstrike specific exclusion as it uses NT Object paths */
        "\\Device\\HarddiskVolume*\\Windows\\System32\\cleanmgr.exe",
        "\\Device\\HarddiskVolume*\\Windows\\SysWOW64\\cleanmgr.exe",
        "\\Device\\HarddiskVolume*\\Windows\\System32\\taskhostw.exe"
)

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect UAC Bypass via DiskCleanup Scheduled Task Hijack 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).