sigmahighHunting

Suspicious MSHTA Child Process

Detects a suspicious process spawning from an "mshta.exe" process, which could be indicative of a malicious HTA script execution

MITRE ATT&CK

T1218.005

defense-evasion

Detection Query

selection_parent:
  ParentImage|endswith: \mshta.exe
selection_child:
  - Image|endswith:
      - \cmd.exe
      - \powershell.exe
      - \pwsh.exe
      - \wscript.exe
      - \cscript.exe
      - \sh.exe
      - \bash.exe
      - \reg.exe
      - \regsvr32.exe
      - \bitsadmin.exe
  - OriginalFileName:
      - Cmd.Exe
      - PowerShell.EXE
      - pwsh.dll
      - wscript.exe
      - cscript.exe
      - Bash.exe
      - reg.exe
      - REGSVR32.EXE
      - bitsadmin.exe
condition: all of selection*

Author

Michael Haag

Created

2019-01-16

Data Sources

windowsProcess Creation Events

Platforms

windows

References

https://www.trustedsec.com/july-2015/malicious-htas/

Tags

attack.defense-evasionattack.t1218.005car.2013-02-003car.2013-03-001car.2014-04-003

Raw Content

title: Suspicious MSHTA Child Process
id: 03cc0c25-389f-4bf8-b48d-11878079f1ca
status: test
description: Detects a suspicious process spawning from an "mshta.exe" process, which could be indicative of a malicious HTA script execution
references:
    - https://www.trustedsec.com/july-2015/malicious-htas/
author: Michael Haag
date: 2019-01-16
modified: 2023-02-06
tags:
    - attack.defense-evasion
    - attack.t1218.005
    - car.2013-02-003
    - car.2013-03-001
    - car.2014-04-003
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection_parent:
        ParentImage|endswith: '\mshta.exe'
    selection_child:
        - Image|endswith:
              - '\cmd.exe'
              - '\powershell.exe'
              - '\pwsh.exe'
              - '\wscript.exe'
              - '\cscript.exe'
              - '\sh.exe'
              - '\bash.exe'
              - '\reg.exe'
              - '\regsvr32.exe'
              - '\bitsadmin.exe'
        - OriginalFileName:
              - 'Cmd.Exe'
              - 'PowerShell.EXE'
              - 'pwsh.dll'
              - 'wscript.exe'
              - 'cscript.exe'
              - 'Bash.exe'
              - 'reg.exe'
              - 'REGSVR32.EXE'
              - 'bitsadmin.exe'
    condition: all of selection*
falsepositives:
    - Printer software / driver installations
    - HP software
level: high