Suspicious ScreenConnect Client Child Process

Last updated 10 days ago on 2025-02-21
Created a year ago on 2024-03-27

About

Identifies suspicious processes being spawned by the ScreenConnect client processes. This activity may indicate execution abusing unauthorized access to the ScreenConnect remote access software.
Tags
Domain: EndpointOS: WindowsUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: Command and ControlData Source: Elastic EndgameData Source: Elastic DefendData Source: SysmonData Source: SentinelOneData Source: Microsoft Defender for EndpointData Source: Windows Security Event LogsData Source: CrowdstrikeLanguage: eql
Severity
medium
Risk Score
47
MITRE ATT&CK™

Command and Control (TA0011)(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
endgame-*logs-crowdstrike.fdr*logs-endpoint.events.process-*logs-m365_defender.event-*logs-sentinel_one_cloud_funnel.*logs-system.security*logs-windows.sysmon_operational-*winlogbeat-*
Related Integrations

endpoint(opens in a new tab or window)

windows(opens in a new tab or window)

sentinel_one_cloud_funnel(opens in a new tab or window)

m365_defender(opens in a new tab or window)

system(opens in a new tab or window)

crowdstrike(opens in a new tab or window)

Query
process where host.os.type == "windows" and event.type == "start" and
  process.parent.name :
                ("ScreenConnect.ClientService.exe",
                 "ScreenConnect.WindowsClient.exe",
                 "ScreenConnect.WindowsBackstageShell.exe",
                 "ScreenConnect.WindowsFileManager.exe") and
  (
   (process.name : "powershell.exe" and
    process.args : ("-enc", "-ec", "-e", "*downloadstring*", "*Reflection.Assembly*", "*http*")) or
   (process.name : "cmd.exe" and process.args : "/c") or
   (process.name : "net.exe" and process.args : "/add") or
   (process.name : "schtasks.exe" and process.args : ("/create", "-create")) or
   (process.name : "sc.exe" and process.args : "create") or
   (process.name : "rundll32.exe" and not process.args : "url.dll,FileProtocolHandler") or
   (process.name : "msiexec.exe" and process.args : ("/i", "-i") and
    process.args : ("/q", "/quiet", "/qn", "-q", "-quiet", "-qn", "-Q+")) or
   process.name : ("mshta.exe", "certutil.exe", "bistadmin.exe", "certreq.exe", "wscript.exe", "cscript.exe", "curl.exe",
                   "ssh.exe", "scp.exe", "wevtutil.exe", "wget.exe", "wmic.exe")
   )

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect Suspicious ScreenConnect Client Child 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).