sigmamediumHunting

Uncommon AddinUtil.EXE CommandLine Execution

Detects execution of the Add-In deployment cache updating utility (AddInutil.exe) with uncommon Addinroot or Pipelineroot paths. An adversary may execute AddinUtil.exe with uncommon Addinroot/Pipelineroot paths that point to the adversaries Addins.Store payload.

MITRE ATT&CK

T1218

defense-evasion

Detection Query

selection_img:
  - Image|endswith: \addinutil.exe
  - OriginalFileName: AddInUtil.exe
selection_cli:
  CommandLine|contains:
    - "-AddInRoot:"
    - "-PipelineRoot:"
filter_main_addinroot:
  CommandLine|contains:
    - -AddInRoot:"C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\VSTA
    - -AddInRoot:C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\VSTA
    - -PipelineRoot:"C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\VSTA
    - -PipelineRoot:C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\VSTA
condition: all of selection_* and not 1 of filter_main_*

Author

Michael McKinley (@McKinleyMike), Tony Latteri (@TheLatteri)

Created

2023-09-18

Data Sources

windowsProcess Creation Events

Platforms

windows

References

https://www.blue-prints.blog/content/blog/posts/lolbin/addinutil-lolbas.html

Tags

attack.defense-evasionattack.t1218

Raw Content

title: Uncommon AddinUtil.EXE CommandLine Execution
id: 4f2cd9b6-4a17-440f-bb2a-687abb65993a
status: test
description: |
    Detects execution of the Add-In deployment cache updating utility (AddInutil.exe) with uncommon Addinroot or Pipelineroot paths. An adversary may execute AddinUtil.exe with uncommon Addinroot/Pipelineroot paths that point to the adversaries Addins.Store payload.
references:
    - https://www.blue-prints.blog/content/blog/posts/lolbin/addinutil-lolbas.html
author: Michael McKinley (@McKinleyMike), Tony Latteri (@TheLatteri)
date: 2023-09-18
tags:
    - attack.defense-evasion
    - attack.t1218
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection_img:
        - Image|endswith: '\addinutil.exe'
        - OriginalFileName: 'AddInUtil.exe'
    selection_cli:
        CommandLine|contains:
            - '-AddInRoot:'
            - '-PipelineRoot:'
    filter_main_addinroot:
        CommandLine|contains:
            - '-AddInRoot:"C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\VSTA'
            - '-AddInRoot:C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\VSTA'
            - '-PipelineRoot:"C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\VSTA'
            - '-PipelineRoot:C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\VSTA'
    condition: all of selection_* and not 1 of filter_main_*
falsepositives:
    - Unknown
level: medium