sigmahighHunting

Powershell Base64 Encoded MpPreference Cmdlet

Detects base64 encoded "MpPreference" PowerShell cmdlet code that tries to modifies or tamper with Windows Defender AV

MITRE ATT&CK

defense-evasion

Detection Query

selection:
  - CommandLine|base64offset|contains:
      - "Add-MpPreference "
      - "Set-MpPreference "
      - "add-mppreference "
      - "set-mppreference "
  - CommandLine|contains:
      - QQBkAGQALQBNAHAAUAByAGUAZgBlAHIAZQBuAGMAZQAgA
      - EAZABkAC0ATQBwAFAAcgBlAGYAZQByAGUAbgBjAGUAIA
      - BAGQAZAAtAE0AcABQAHIAZQBmAGUAcgBlAG4AYwBlACAA
      - UwBlAHQALQBNAHAAUAByAGUAZgBlAHIAZQBuAGMAZQAgA
      - MAZQB0AC0ATQBwAFAAcgBlAGYAZQByAGUAbgBjAGUAIA
      - TAGUAdAAtAE0AcABQAHIAZQBmAGUAcgBlAG4AYwBlACAA
      - YQBkAGQALQBtAHAAcAByAGUAZgBlAHIAZQBuAGMAZQAgA
      - EAZABkAC0AbQBwAHAAcgBlAGYAZQByAGUAbgBjAGUAIA
      - hAGQAZAAtAG0AcABwAHIAZQBmAGUAcgBlAG4AYwBlACAA
      - cwBlAHQALQBtAHAAcAByAGUAZgBlAHIAZQBuAGMAZQAgA
      - MAZQB0AC0AbQBwAHAAcgBlAGYAZQByAGUAbgBjAGUAIA
      - zAGUAdAAtAG0AcABwAHIAZQBmAGUAcgBlAG4AYwBlACAA
condition: selection

Author

Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)

Created

2022-03-04

Data Sources

windowsProcess Creation Events

Platforms

windows

References

Tags

attack.defense-evasionattack.t1562.001

Raw Content

title: Powershell Base64 Encoded MpPreference Cmdlet
id: c6fb44c6-71f5-49e6-9462-1425d328aee3
status: test
description: Detects base64 encoded "MpPreference" PowerShell cmdlet code that tries to modifies or tamper with Windows Defender AV
references:
    - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/defender-endpoint/configure-process-opened-file-exclusions-microsoft-defender-antivirus
    - https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/f339e7da7d05f6057fdfcdd3742bfcf365fee2a9/atomics/T1562.001/T1562.001.md
    - https://twitter.com/AdamTheAnalyst/status/1483497517119590403
author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)
date: 2022-03-04
modified: 2023-01-30
tags:
    - attack.defense-evasion
    - attack.t1562.001
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection:
        - CommandLine|base64offset|contains:
              - 'Add-MpPreference '
              - 'Set-MpPreference '
              - 'add-mppreference '
              - 'set-mppreference '
        - CommandLine|contains:
              # UTF16-LE
              - 'QQBkAGQALQBNAHAAUAByAGUAZgBlAHIAZQBuAGMAZQAgA'
              - 'EAZABkAC0ATQBwAFAAcgBlAGYAZQByAGUAbgBjAGUAIA'
              - 'BAGQAZAAtAE0AcABQAHIAZQBmAGUAcgBlAG4AYwBlACAA'
              - 'UwBlAHQALQBNAHAAUAByAGUAZgBlAHIAZQBuAGMAZQAgA'
              - 'MAZQB0AC0ATQBwAFAAcgBlAGYAZQByAGUAbgBjAGUAIA'
              - 'TAGUAdAAtAE0AcABQAHIAZQBmAGUAcgBlAG4AYwBlACAA'
              - 'YQBkAGQALQBtAHAAcAByAGUAZgBlAHIAZQBuAGMAZQAgA'
              - 'EAZABkAC0AbQBwAHAAcgBlAGYAZQByAGUAbgBjAGUAIA'
              - 'hAGQAZAAtAG0AcABwAHIAZQBmAGUAcgBlAG4AYwBlACAA'
              - 'cwBlAHQALQBtAHAAcAByAGUAZgBlAHIAZQBuAGMAZQAgA'
              - 'MAZQB0AC0AbQBwAHAAcgBlAGYAZQByAGUAbgBjAGUAIA'
              - 'zAGUAdAAtAG0AcABwAHIAZQBmAGUAcgBlAG4AYwBlACAA'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Unknown
level: high