sigmamediumHunting

Suspicious Group And Account Reconnaissance Activity Using Net.EXE

Detects suspicious reconnaissance command line activity on Windows systems using Net.EXE Check if the user that executed the commands is suspicious (e.g. service accounts, LOCAL_SYSTEM)

MITRE ATT&CK

T1087.001 T1087.002

discovery

Detection Query

selection_img:
  - Image|endswith:
      - \net.exe
      - \net1.exe
  - OriginalFileName:
      - net.exe
      - net1.exe
selection_group_root:
  CommandLine|contains:
    - " group "
    - " localgroup "
selection_group_flags:
  CommandLine|contains:
    - domain admins
    - " administrator"
    - " administrateur"
    - enterprise admins
    - Exchange Trusted Subsystem
    - Remote Desktop Users
    - Utilisateurs du Bureau à distance
    - Usuarios de escritorio remoto
    - " /do"
filter_group_add:
  CommandLine|contains: " /add"
selection_accounts_root:
  CommandLine|contains: " accounts "
selection_accounts_flags:
  CommandLine|contains: " /do"
condition: selection_img and ((all of selection_group_* and not
  filter_group_add) or all of selection_accounts_*)

Author

Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), omkar72, @svch0st, Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)

Created

2019-01-16

Data Sources

windowsProcess Creation Events

Platforms

windows

References

Tags

attack.discoveryattack.t1087.001attack.t1087.002

Raw Content

title: Suspicious Group And Account Reconnaissance Activity Using Net.EXE
id: d95de845-b83c-4a9a-8a6a-4fc802ebf6c0
status: test
description: |
    Detects suspicious reconnaissance command line activity on Windows systems using Net.EXE
    Check if the user that executed the commands is suspicious (e.g. service accounts, LOCAL_SYSTEM)
references:
    - https://redcanary.com/blog/how-one-hospital-thwarted-a-ryuk-ransomware-outbreak/
    - https://thedfirreport.com/2020/10/18/ryuk-in-5-hours/
    - https://research.nccgroup.com/2022/08/19/back-in-black-unlocking-a-lockbit-3-0-ransomware-attack/
author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), omkar72, @svch0st, Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
date: 2019-01-16
modified: 2023-03-02
tags:
    - attack.discovery
    - attack.t1087.001
    - attack.t1087.002
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection_img:
        - Image|endswith:
              - '\net.exe'
              - '\net1.exe'
        - OriginalFileName:
              - 'net.exe'
              - 'net1.exe'
    # Covers group and localgroup flags
    selection_group_root:
        CommandLine|contains:
            - ' group '
            - ' localgroup '
    selection_group_flags:
        CommandLine|contains:
            # Add more groups for other languages
            - 'domain admins'
            - ' administrator' # Typo without an 'S' so we catch both
            - ' administrateur' # Typo without an 'S' so we catch both
            - 'enterprise admins'
            - 'Exchange Trusted Subsystem'
            - 'Remote Desktop Users'
            - 'Utilisateurs du Bureau à distance' # French for "Remote Desktop Users"
            - 'Usuarios de escritorio remoto' # Spanish for "Remote Desktop Users"
            - ' /do' # short for domain
    filter_group_add:
        # This filter is added to avoid the potential case where the point is not recon but addition
        CommandLine|contains: ' /add'
    # Covers 'accounts' flag
    selection_accounts_root:
        CommandLine|contains: ' accounts '
    selection_accounts_flags:
        CommandLine|contains: ' /do' # short for domain
    condition: selection_img and ((all of selection_group_* and not filter_group_add) or all of selection_accounts_*)
falsepositives:
    - Inventory tool runs
    - Administrative activity
level: medium