splunk_escuHunting

Windows Vulnerable Driver Loaded

The following analytic detects the loading of known vulnerable Windows drivers, which may indicate potential persistence or privilege escalation attempts. It leverages Sysmon EventCode 6 to identify driver loading events and cross-references them with a list of vulnerable drivers. This activity is significant as attackers often exploit vulnerable drivers to gain elevated privileges or maintain persistence on a system. If confirmed malicious, this could allow attackers to execute arbitrary code with high privileges, leading to further system compromise and potential data exfiltration.

MITRE ATT&CK

T1543.003

Detection Query

`sysmon` EventCode=6
  | stats  min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime count
    BY ImageLoaded dest dvc
       process_hash process_path signature
       signature_id user_id vendor_product
  | lookup loldrivers driver_name AS ImageLoaded OUTPUT is_driver driver_description
  | search is_driver = TRUE
  | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
  | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
  | `windows_vulnerable_driver_loaded_filter`

Author

Michael Haag, Splunk

Created

2026-03-16

Data Sources

Sysmon EventID 6

References

Tags

Windows DriversBlackByte RansomwareVoid Manticore

Raw Content

name: Windows Vulnerable Driver Loaded
id: a2b1f1ef-221f-4187-b2a4-d4b08ec745f4
version: 9
date: '2026-03-16'
author: Michael Haag, Splunk
status: production
type: Hunting
description: The following analytic detects the loading of known vulnerable Windows drivers, which may indicate potential persistence or privilege escalation attempts. It leverages Sysmon EventCode 6 to identify driver loading events and cross-references them with a list of vulnerable drivers. This activity is significant as attackers often exploit vulnerable drivers to gain elevated privileges or maintain persistence on a system. If confirmed malicious, this could allow attackers to execute arbitrary code with high privileges, leading to further system compromise and potential data exfiltration.
data_source:
    - Sysmon EventID 6
search: |-
    `sysmon` EventCode=6
      | stats  min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime count
        BY ImageLoaded dest dvc
           process_hash process_path signature
           signature_id user_id vendor_product
      | lookup loldrivers driver_name AS ImageLoaded OUTPUT is_driver driver_description
      | search is_driver = TRUE
      | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
      | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
      | `windows_vulnerable_driver_loaded_filter`
how_to_implement: Sysmon collects driver loads via EventID 6, however you may modify the query to utilize this lookup to identify potentially persistent drivers that are known to be vulnerable.
known_false_positives: False positives will be present. Drill down into the driver further by version number and cross reference by signer. Review the reference material in the lookup. In addition, modify the query to look within specific paths, which will remove a lot of "normal" drivers.
references:
    - https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/windows/driver_load/driver_load_vuln_drivers_names.yml
    - https://github.com/eclypsium/Screwed-Drivers/blob/master/DRIVERS.md
    - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/windows-defender-application-control/microsoft-recommended-driver-block-rules
    - https://www.rapid7.com/blog/post/2021/12/13/driver-based-attacks-past-and-present/
    - https://github.com/jbaines-r7/dellicious
    - https://github.com/MicrosoftDocs/windows-itpro-docs/blob/public/windows/security/threat-protection/windows-defender-application-control/microsoft-recommended-driver-block-rules.md
    - https://github.com/namazso/physmem_drivers
    - https://github.com/stong/CVE-2020-15368
    - https://github.com/CaledoniaProject/drivers-binaries
    - https://github.com/Chigusa0w0/AsusDriversPrivEscala
    - https://www.welivesecurity.com/2022/01/11/signed-kernel-drivers-unguarded-gateway-windows-core/
    - https://eclypsium.com/2019/11/12/mother-of-all-drivers/
    - https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2022-37969
tags:
    analytic_story:
        - Windows Drivers
        - BlackByte Ransomware
        - Void Manticore
    asset_type: Endpoint
    mitre_attack_id:
        - T1543.003
    product:
        - Splunk Enterprise
        - Splunk Enterprise Security
        - Splunk Cloud
    security_domain: endpoint
tests:
    - name: True Positive Test
      attack_data:
        - data: https://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/attack_techniques/T1014/windows-sysmon.log
          source: XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational
          sourcetype: XmlWinEventLog