Techniques
Sample rules
Winhlp32 Spawning a Process
- source: splunk
- technicques:
- T1055
Description
The following analytic detects winhlp32.exe spawning a child process that loads a file from appdata, programdata, or temp directories. This detection leverages data from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents, focusing on process creation events. This activity is significant because winhlp32.exe has known vulnerabilities and can be exploited to execute malicious code. If confirmed malicious, an attacker could use this technique to execute arbitrary scripts, escalate privileges, or maintain persistence within the environment. Analysts should review parallel processes, module loads, and file modifications for further suspicious behavior.
Detection logic
| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime from datamodel=Endpoint.Processes where Processes.parent_process_name=winhlp32.exe Processes.process IN ("*\\appdata\\*","*\\programdata\\*", "*\\temp\\*") by Processes.dest Processes.user Processes.parent_process_name Processes.process_name Processes.original_file_name Processes.process Processes.process_id Processes.parent_process_id
| `drop_dm_object_name(Processes)`
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
| `winhlp32_spawning_a_process_filter`