PowerShell Mailbox Collection Script

Last updated 8 days ago on 2026-01-26
Created 3 years ago on 2023-01-11

About

Detects PowerShell script block content that indicates programmatic mailbox access using Outlook Interop/MAPI or EWS APIs. Adversaries can use mailbox access to collect email content and attachments for exfiltration.
Tags
Domain: EndpointOS: WindowsUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: CollectionData Source: PowerShell LogsLanguage: kuery
Severity
medium
Risk Score
47
MITRE ATT&CK™

Collection (TA0009)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

Execution (TA0002)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

License
Elastic License v2(external, opens in a new tab or window)

Definition

Rule Type
Query (Kibana Query Language)
Integration Pack
Prebuilt Security Detection Rules
Index Patterns
winlogbeat-*logs-windows.powershell*
Related Integrations

windows(external, opens in a new tab or window)

Query
text code block:
event.category:process and host.os.type:windows and ( ( powershell.file.script_block_text : ( "Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook" or "Interop.Outlook.olDefaultFolders" or "olFolderInBox" or "Outlook.Application" ) and powershell.file.script_block_text : ("MAPI" or "GetDefaultFolder" or "GetNamespace" or "Session" or "GetSharedDefaultFolder") ) or ( powershell.file.script_block_text : ( "Microsoft.Exchange.WebServices.Data.Folder" or "Microsoft.Exchange.WebServices.Data.FileAttachment" or "Microsoft.Exchange.WebServices.Data.ExchangeService" ) and powershell.file.script_block_text : ("FindItems" or "Bind" or "WellKnownFolderName" or "FolderId" or "ItemView" or "PropertySet" or "SearchFilter" or "Attachments") ) )

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect PowerShell Mailbox Collection Script 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(external, opens in a new tab or window).