sigmamediumHunting

Potential Process Hollowing Activity

Detects when a memory process image does not match the disk image, indicative of process hollowing.

MITRE ATT&CK

defense-evasionprivilege-escalation

Detection Query

selection:
  Type: Image is replaced
filter_main_generic:
  Image|contains:
    - :\Program Files (x86)
    - :\Program Files\
    - :\Windows\System32\wbem\WMIADAP.exe
    - :\Windows\SysWOW64\wbem\WMIADAP.exe
filter_optional_opera:
  Image|contains: \AppData\Local\Programs\Opera\
  Image|endswith: \opera.exe
filter_optional_edge:
  Image|endswith: \WindowsApps\MicrosoftEdge.exe
condition: selection and not 1 of filter_main_* and not 1 of filter_optional_*

Author

Christopher Peacock '@securepeacock', SCYTHE '@scythe_io', Sittikorn S

Created

2022-01-25

Data Sources

windowsprocess_tampering

Platforms

windows

References

Tags

attack.defense-evasionattack.privilege-escalationattack.t1055.012

Raw Content

title: Potential Process Hollowing Activity
id: c4b890e5-8d8c-4496-8c66-c805753817cd
status: test
description: Detects when a memory process image does not match the disk image, indicative of process hollowing.
references:
    - https://twitter.com/SecurePeacock/status/1486054048390332423?s=20
    - https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-sysmon-now-detects-malware-process-tampering-attempts/
author: Christopher Peacock '@securepeacock', SCYTHE '@scythe_io', Sittikorn S
date: 2022-01-25
modified: 2023-11-28
tags:
    - attack.defense-evasion
    - attack.privilege-escalation
    - attack.t1055.012
logsource:
    product: windows
    category: process_tampering
detection:
    selection:
        Type: 'Image is replaced'
    filter_main_generic:
        Image|contains:
            - ':\Program Files (x86)'
            - ':\Program Files\'
            - ':\Windows\System32\wbem\WMIADAP.exe'
            - ':\Windows\SysWOW64\wbem\WMIADAP.exe'
    filter_optional_opera:
        Image|contains: '\AppData\Local\Programs\Opera\'
        Image|endswith: '\opera.exe'
    filter_optional_edge:
        Image|endswith: '\WindowsApps\MicrosoftEdge.exe'
    condition: selection and not 1 of filter_main_* and not 1 of filter_optional_*
falsepositives:
    - Unknown
level: medium