sigmalowHunting

Task Scheduler DLL Loaded By Application Located In Potentially Suspicious Location

Detects the loading of the "taskschd.dll" module from a process that located in a potentially suspicious or uncommon directory. The loading of this DLL might indicate that the application have the capability to create a scheduled task via the "Schedule.Service" COM object. Investigation of the loading application and its behavior is required to determining if its malicious.

MITRE ATT&CK

T1053.005

persistenceexecutionprivilege-escalation

Detection Query

selection_dll:
  - ImageLoaded|endswith: \taskschd.dll
  - OriginalFileName: taskschd.dll
selection_paths:
  Image|contains:
    - :\Temp\
    - :\Users\Public\
    - :\Windows\Temp\
    - \AppData\Local\Temp\
    - \Desktop\
    - \Downloads\
condition: all of selection_*

Author

Swachchhanda Shrawan Poudel

Created

2024-09-02

Data Sources

windowsImage Load Events

Platforms

windows

References

Tags

attack.persistenceattack.executionattack.privilege-escalationattack.t1053.005detection.threat-hunting

Raw Content

title: Task Scheduler DLL Loaded By Application Located In Potentially Suspicious Location
id: 3b92a1d0-8d4b-4d28-a1b4-1e29d49a6a3e
status: test
description: |
    Detects the loading of the "taskschd.dll" module from a process that located in a potentially suspicious or uncommon directory.
    The loading of this DLL might indicate that the application have the capability to create a scheduled task via the "Schedule.Service" COM object.
    Investigation of the loading application and its behavior is required to determining if its malicious.
references:
    - https://www.logpoint.com/en/blog/shenanigans-of-scheduled-tasks/
    - https://x.com/Max_Mal_/status/1826179497084739829
author: Swachchhanda Shrawan Poudel
date: 2024-09-02
tags:
    - attack.persistence
    - attack.execution
    - attack.privilege-escalation
    - attack.t1053.005
    - detection.threat-hunting
logsource:
    category: image_load
    product: windows
detection:
    selection_dll:
        - ImageLoaded|endswith: '\taskschd.dll'
        - OriginalFileName: 'taskschd.dll'
    selection_paths:
        Image|contains:
            - ':\Temp\'
            - ':\Users\Public\'
            - ':\Windows\Temp\'
            - '\AppData\Local\Temp\'
            - '\Desktop\'
            - '\Downloads\'
    condition: all of selection_*
falsepositives:
    - Some installers might generate false positives, apply additional filters accordingly.
level: low