this detection may also be triggered by legitimate applications and numerous service accounts, which often end with a $ sign. to manage this, it's advised to check the service account's activities and, if they are valid, modify the filter macro to exclude them.

Techniques

T1059.003

Sample rules

Detect Use of cmd exe to Launch Script Interpreters

source: splunk
technicques:
- T1059.003

Description

The following analytic detects the execution of cscript.exe or wscript.exe processes initiated by cmd.exe. It leverages data from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents, focusing on process names and parent processes within the Endpoint data model. This activity is significant as it may indicate script-based attacks or administrative actions that could be leveraged for malicious purposes. If confirmed malicious, this behavior could allow attackers to execute scripts, potentially leading to code execution, privilege escalation, or persistence within the environment.

Detection logic


| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime FROM datamodel=Endpoint.Processes
  WHERE Processes.parent_process_name="cmd.exe" (Processes.process_name=cscript.exe
    OR
    Processes.process_name =wscript.exe)
  BY Processes.action Processes.dest Processes.original_file_name
     Processes.parent_process Processes.parent_process_exec Processes.parent_process_guid
     Processes.parent_process_id Processes.parent_process_name Processes.parent_process_path
     Processes.process Processes.process_exec Processes.process_guid
     Processes.process_hash Processes.process_id Processes.process_integrity_level
     Processes.process_name Processes.process_path Processes.user
     Processes.user_id Processes.vendor_product

| `drop_dm_object_name("Processes")`

| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`

| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`

| `detect_use_of_cmd_exe_to_launch_script_interpreters_filter`