Elastic Security Detection Rules

Persistence via Microsoft Outlook VBA

Last updated 20 days ago on 2025-08-26
Created 5 years ago on 2020-11-23

About

Detects attempts to establish persistence on an endpoint by installing a rogue Microsoft Outlook VBA Template.
Tags
Domain: EndpointOS: WindowsUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: PersistenceData Source: Elastic EndgameData Source: Elastic DefendData Source: SysmonData Source: Microsoft Defender for EndpointData Source: SentinelOneData Source: CrowdstrikeLanguage: eql
Severity
medium
Risk Score
47
MITRE ATT&CK™

Persistence (TA0003)(opens in a new tab or window)

↳ Office Application Startup (T1137)(opens in a new tab or window)

False Positive Examples
A legitimate VBA for Outlook is usually configured interactively via OUTLOOK.EXE.
License
Elastic License v2(opens in a new tab or window)

Definition

Rule Type
Event Correlation Rule
Integration Pack
Prebuilt Security Detection Rules
Index Patterns
logs-endpoint.events.file-*winlogbeat-*logs-windows.sysmon_operational-*endgame-*logs-m365_defender.event-*logs-sentinel_one_cloud_funnel.*logs-crowdstrike.fdr*
Related Integrations

endpoint(opens in a new tab or window)

windows(opens in a new tab or window)

m365_defender(opens in a new tab or window)

sentinel_one_cloud_funnel(opens in a new tab or window)

crowdstrike(opens in a new tab or window)

Query
file where host.os.type == "windows" and event.type != "deletion" and
  file.name : "VbaProject.OTM" and
  file.path : ("?:\\Users\\*\\AppData\\Roaming\\Microsoft\\Outlook\\VbaProject.OTM", "\\Device\\HarddiskVolume*\\Users\\*\\AppData\\Roaming\\Microsoft\\Outlook\\VbaProject.OTM")

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect Persistence via Microsoft Outlook VBA 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(opens in a new tab or window).