Unsigned DLL Loaded by Svchost

Last updated 4 months ago on 2025-01-15
Created 2 years ago on 2023-01-17

About

Identifies an unsigned library created in the last 5 minutes and subsequently loaded by a shared windows service (svchost). Adversaries may use this technique to maintain persistence or run with System privileges.
Tags
Domain: EndpointOS: WindowsUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: PersistenceTactic: Defense EvasionTactic: ExecutionData Source: Elastic DefendLanguage: eql
Severity
medium
Risk Score
47
MITRE ATT&CK™

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

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

Execution (TA0002)(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
logs-endpoint.events.library-*
Related Integrations

endpoint(opens in a new tab or window)

Query
library where host.os.type == "windows" and

 process.executable :
     ("?:\\Windows\\System32\\svchost.exe", "?:\\Windows\\Syswow64\\svchost.exe") and

 dll.code_signature.trusted != true and

 not dll.code_signature.status : ("trusted", "errorExpired", "errorCode_endpoint*") and

 dll.hash.sha256 != null and

 (
       /* DLL created within 5 minutes of the library load event - compatible with Elastic Endpoint 8.4+ */
       dll.Ext.relative_file_creation_time <= 300 or

       /* unusual paths */
       dll.path :("?:\\ProgramData\\*",
                  "?:\\Users\\*",
                  "?:\\PerfLogs\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\Tasks\\*",
                  "?:\\Intel\\*",
                  "?:\\AMD\\Temp\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\AppReadiness\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\ServiceState\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\security\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\IdentityCRL\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\Branding\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\csc\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\DigitalLocker\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\en-US\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\wlansvc\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\Prefetch\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\Fonts\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\diagnostics\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\TAPI\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\INF\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\System32\\Speech\\*",
                  "?:\\windows\\tracing\\*",
                  "?:\\windows\\IME\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\Performance\\*",
                  "?:\\windows\\intel\\*",
                  "?:\\windows\\ms\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\dot3svc\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\panther\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\RemotePackages\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\OCR\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\appcompat\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\apppatch\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\addins\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\Setup\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\Help\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\SKB\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\Vss\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\servicing\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\CbsTemp\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\Logs\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\WaaS\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\twain_32\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\ShellExperiences\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\ShellComponents\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\PLA\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\Migration\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\debug\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\Cursors\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\Containers\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\Boot\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\bcastdvr\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\TextInput\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\security\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\schemas\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\SchCache\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\Resources\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\rescache\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\Provisioning\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\PrintDialog\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\PolicyDefinitions\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\media\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\Globalization\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\L2Schemas\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\LiveKernelReports\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\ModemLogs\\*",
                  "?:\\Windows\\ImmersiveControlPanel\\*",
                  "?:\\$Recycle.Bin\\*")
  ) and

  not dll.hash.sha256 :
            ("3ed33e71641645367442e65dca6dab0d326b22b48ef9a4c2a2488e67383aa9a6",
             "b4db053f6032964df1b254ac44cb995ffaeb4f3ade09597670aba4f172cf65e4",
             "214c75f678bc596bbe667a3b520aaaf09a0e50c364a28ac738a02f867a085eba",
             "23aa95b637a1bf6188b386c21c4e87967ede80242327c55447a5bb70d9439244",
             "5050b025909e81ae5481db37beb807a80c52fc6dd30c8aa47c9f7841e2a31be7")

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect Unsigned DLL Loaded by Svchost 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).