Startup Persistence by a Suspicious Process

Last updated 5 months ago on 2025-03-20
Created 5 years ago on 2020-11-18

About

Identifies files written to or modified in the startup folder by commonly abused processes. Adversaries may use this technique to maintain persistence.
Tags
Domain: EndpointOS: WindowsUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: PersistenceData Source: Elastic EndgameData Source: Elastic DefendData Source: SysmonData Source: Microsoft Defender for EndpointData Source: SentinelOneLanguage: eql
Severity
medium
Risk Score
47
MITRE ATT&CK™

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

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
winlogbeat-*logs-endpoint.events.file-*logs-windows.sysmon_operational-*endgame-*logs-m365_defender.event-*logs-sentinel_one_cloud_funnel.*
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)

Query
file where host.os.type == "windows" and event.type != "deletion" and
  user.domain != "NT AUTHORITY" and
  file.path : ("C:\\Users\\*\\AppData\\Roaming\\Microsoft\\Windows\\Start Menu\\Programs\\Startup\\*",
               "C:\\ProgramData\\Microsoft\\Windows\\Start Menu\\Programs\\StartUp\\*") and
  process.name : ("cmd.exe",
                  "powershell.exe",
                  "wmic.exe",
                  "mshta.exe",
                  "pwsh.exe",
                  "cscript.exe",
                  "wscript.exe",
                  "regsvr32.exe",
                  "RegAsm.exe",
                  "rundll32.exe",
                  "EQNEDT32.EXE",
                  "WINWORD.EXE",
                  "EXCEL.EXE",
                  "POWERPNT.EXE",
                  "MSPUB.EXE",
                  "MSACCESS.EXE",
                  "iexplore.exe",
                  "InstallUtil.exe")

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect Startup Persistence by a Suspicious 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(opens in a new tab or window).