sigmamediumHunting

Suspicious XOR Encoded PowerShell Command

Detects presence of a potentially xor encoded powershell command

MITRE ATT&CK

defense-evasionexecution

Detection Query

selection_img:
  - Image|endswith:
      - \powershell.exe
      - \pwsh.exe
  - OriginalFileName:
      - PowerShell.EXE
      - pwsh.dll
  - Description: Windows PowerShell
  - Product: PowerShell Core 6
selection_cli_xor:
  CommandLine|contains: bxor
selection_cli_other:
  CommandLine|contains:
    - ForEach
    - for(
    - "for "
    - "-join "
    - -join'
    - -join"
    - -join`
    - ::Join
    - "[char]"
condition: all of selection_*

Author

Sami Ruohonen, Harish Segar, Tim Shelton, Teymur Kheirkhabarov, Vasiliy Burov, oscd.community, Nasreddine Bencherchali

Created

2018-09-05

Data Sources

windowsProcess Creation Events

Platforms

windows

References

Tags

attack.defense-evasionattack.executionattack.t1059.001attack.t1140attack.t1027

Raw Content

title: Suspicious XOR Encoded PowerShell Command
id: bb780e0c-16cf-4383-8383-1e5471db6cf9
related:
    - id: 5b572dcf-254b-425c-a8c5-d9af6bea35a6
      type: obsolete
status: test
description: Detects presence of a potentially xor encoded powershell command
references:
    - https://speakerdeck.com/heirhabarov/hunting-for-powershell-abuse?slide=65
    - https://redcanary.com/blog/yellow-cockatoo/
    - https://zero2auto.com/2020/05/19/netwalker-re/
    - https://mez0.cc/posts/cobaltstrike-powershell-exec/
author: Sami Ruohonen, Harish Segar, Tim Shelton, Teymur Kheirkhabarov, Vasiliy Burov, oscd.community, Nasreddine Bencherchali
date: 2018-09-05
modified: 2023-01-30
tags:
    - attack.defense-evasion
    - attack.execution
    - attack.t1059.001
    - attack.t1140
    - attack.t1027
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection_img:
        - Image|endswith:
              - '\powershell.exe'
              - '\pwsh.exe'
        - OriginalFileName:
              - 'PowerShell.EXE'
              - 'pwsh.dll'
        - Description: 'Windows PowerShell'
        - Product: 'PowerShell Core 6'
    selection_cli_xor:
        CommandLine|contains: 'bxor'
    selection_cli_other:
        CommandLine|contains:
            - 'ForEach'
            - 'for('
            - 'for '
            - '-join '
            - "-join'"
            - '-join"'
            - '-join`'
            - '::Join'
            - '[char]'
    condition: all of selection_*
falsepositives:
    - Unknown
level: medium