sigmahighHunting

Remotely Hosted HTA File Executed Via Mshta.EXE

Detects execution of the "mshta" utility with an argument containing the "http" keyword, which could indicate that an attacker is executing a remotely hosted malicious hta file

MITRE ATT&CK

T1218.005

defense-evasionexecution

Detection Query

selection_img:
  - Image|endswith: \mshta.exe
  - OriginalFileName: MSHTA.EXE
selection_cli:
  CommandLine|contains:
    - http://
    - https://
    - ftp://
condition: all of selection_*

Author

Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)

Created

2022-08-08

Data Sources

windowsProcess Creation Events

Platforms

windows

References

https://www.trendmicro.com/en_us/research/22/e/avoslocker-ransomware-variant-abuses-driver-file-to-disable-anti-Virus-scans-log4shell.html

Tags

attack.defense-evasionattack.executionattack.t1218.005

Raw Content

title: Remotely Hosted HTA File Executed Via Mshta.EXE
id: b98d0db6-511d-45de-ad02-e82a98729620
status: test
description: Detects execution of the "mshta" utility with an argument containing the "http" keyword, which could indicate that an attacker is executing a remotely hosted malicious hta file
references:
    - https://www.trendmicro.com/en_us/research/22/e/avoslocker-ransomware-variant-abuses-driver-file-to-disable-anti-Virus-scans-log4shell.html
author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
date: 2022-08-08
modified: 2023-02-06
tags:
    - attack.defense-evasion
    - attack.execution
    - attack.t1218.005
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection_img:
        - Image|endswith: '\mshta.exe'
        - OriginalFileName: 'MSHTA.EXE'
    selection_cli:
        CommandLine|contains:
            - 'http://'
            - 'https://'
            - 'ftp://'
    condition: all of selection_*
falsepositives:
    - Unknown
level: high