UAC Bypass Attempt via Privileged IFileOperation COM Interface

Last updated 5 months ago on 2025-03-20
Created 5 years ago on 2020-10-27

About

Identifies attempts to bypass User Account Control (UAC) via DLL side-loading. Attackers may attempt to bypass UAC to stealthily execute code with elevated permissions.
Tags
Domain: EndpointOS: WindowsUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: Privilege EscalationTactic: Defense EvasionData Source: Elastic EndgameData Source: Elastic DefendData Source: SysmonData Source: Microsoft Defender for EndpointData Source: SentinelOneLanguage: eql
Severity
high
Risk Score
73
MITRE ATT&CK™

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

Defense Evasion (TA0005)(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 : "change" and process.name : "dllhost.exe" and
  /* Known modules names side loaded into process running with high or system integrity level for UAC Bypass, update here for new modules */
  file.name : ("wow64log.dll", "comctl32.dll", "DismCore.dll", "OskSupport.dll", "duser.dll", "Accessibility.ni.dll") and
  /* has no impact on rule logic just to avoid OS install related FPs */
  not file.path : ("C:\\Windows\\SoftwareDistribution\\*", "C:\\Windows\\WinSxS\\*")

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect UAC Bypass Attempt via Privileged IFileOperation COM Interface 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).