Scheduled Task Created by a Windows Script
editScheduled Task Created by a Windows Script
editA scheduled task was created by a Windows script via cscript.exe, wscript.exe or powershell.exe. This can be abused by an adversary to establish persistence.
Rule type: eql
Rule indices:
- winlogbeat-*
- logs-endpoint.events.*
- logs-windows.*
Severity: medium
Risk score: 47
Runs every: 5 minutes
Searches indices from: now-9m (Date Math format, see also Additional look-back time)
Maximum alerts per execution: 100
Tags:
- Elastic
- Host
- Windows
- Threat Detection
- Persistence
Version: 3 (version history)
Added (Elastic Stack release): 7.11.0
Last modified (Elastic Stack release): 7.13.0
Rule authors: Elastic
Rule license: Elastic License v2
Potential false positives
editLegitimate scheduled tasks may be created during installation of new software.
Investigation guide
editTriage and analysis
Decode the base64 encoded Tasks Actions registry value to investigate the task’s configured action.
Rule query
editsequence by host.id with maxspan = 30s [library where dll.name :
"taskschd.dll" and process.name : ("cscript.exe", "wscript.exe",
"powershell.exe")] [registry where registry.path :
"HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows
NT\\CurrentVersion\\Schedule\\TaskCache\\Tasks\\*\\Actions"]
Threat mapping
editFramework: MITRE ATT&CKTM
-
Tactic:
- Name: Persistence
- ID: TA0003
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0003/
-
Technique:
- Name: Scheduled Task/Job
- ID: T1053
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1053/
Rule version history
edit- Version 3 (7.13.0 release)
-
- Formatting only
- Version 2 (7.12.0 release)
-
-
Updated query, changed from:
sequence by host.id with maxspan = 30s [library where file.name : "taskschd.dll" and process.name : ("cscript.exe", "wscript.exe", "powershell.exe")] [registry where registry.path : "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Schedule\\TaskCache\\Tasks\\*\\Actions"]
-