Unusual Process Network Connection

Identifies network activity from unexpected system applications. This may indicate adversarial activity as these applications are often leveraged by adversaries to execute code and evade detection.

Rule type: eql

Rule indices:

winlogbeat-*
logs-endpoint.events.*
logs-windows.*

Severity: low

Risk score: 21

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
Defense Evasion

Version: 7 (version history)

Added (Elastic Stack release): 7.6.0

Last modified (Elastic Stack release): 7.12.0

Rule authors: Elastic

Rule license: Elastic License v2

Rule query

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sequence by process.entity_id [process where (process.name :
"Microsoft.Workflow.Compiler.exe" or process.name :
"bginfo.exe" or process.name : "cdb.exe" or
process.name : "cmstp.exe" or process.name :
"csi.exe" or process.name : "dnx.exe" or
process.name : "fsi.exe" or process.name :
"ieexec.exe" or process.name : "iexpress.exe" or
process.name : "odbcconf.exe" or process.name :
"rcsi.exe" or process.name : "xwizard.exe") and
event.type == "start"] [network where (process.name :
"Microsoft.Workflow.Compiler.exe" or process.name :
"bginfo.exe" or process.name : "cdb.exe" or
process.name : "cmstp.exe" or process.name :
"csi.exe" or process.name : "dnx.exe" or
process.name : "fsi.exe" or process.name :
"ieexec.exe" or process.name : "iexpress.exe" or
process.name : "odbcconf.exe" or process.name :
"rcsi.exe" or process.name : "xwizard.exe")]

Threat mapping

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Framework: MITRE ATT&CK^TM

Tactic:
- Name: Defense Evasion
- ID: TA0005
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0005/
Technique:
- Name: Trusted Developer Utilities Proxy Execution
- ID: T1127
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1127/

Rule version history

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Version 7 (7.12.0 release)

Formatting only

Version 6 (7.11.0 release)

Formatting only

Version 5 (7.10.0 release)

Updated query, changed from:

event.category:network and event.type:connection and
process.name:(Microsoft.Workflow.Compiler.exe or bginfo.exe or cdb.exe
or cmstp.exe or csi.exe or dnx.exe or fsi.exe or ieexec.exe or
iexpress.exe or odbcconf.exe or rcsi.exe or xwizard.exe)

Version 4 (7.9.1 release)

Formatting only

Version 3 (7.9.0 release)

Updated query, changed from:

event.action:"Network connection detected (rule: NetworkConnect)" and
process.name:(Microsoft.Workflow.Compiler.exe or bginfo.exe or cdb.exe
or cmstp.exe or csi.exe or dnx.exe or fsi.exe or ieexec.exe or
iexpress.exe or odbcconf.exe or rcsi.exe or xwizard.exe)

Version 2 (7.7.0 release)

Updated query, changed from:

event.action:"Network connection detected (rule: NetworkConnect)" and
process.name:(bginfo.exe or cdb.exe or cmstp.exe or csi.exe or dnx.exe
or fsi.exe or ieexec.exe or iexpress.exe or
Microsoft.Workflow.Compiler.exe or odbcconf.exe or rcsi.exe or
xwizard.exe)

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