Remote Management and Monitoring tool - RustDesk - Create Process

Hunt Hypothesis

The detection identifies the use of RustDesk, a remote management tool, to create processes that may indicate adversary persistence or command and control activity. SOC teams should proactively hunt for this behavior in Azure Sentinel to detect potential compromise of endpoints managed by RMM tools.

KQL Query

let Time_start = now(-5d);
let Time_end = now();
//
DeviceProcessEvents 
| where Timestamp between (Time_start..Time_end)
| where ProcessVersionInfoProductName has 'rustdesk'
| summarize FirstSeen=min(Timestamp), LastSeen=max(Timestamp), 
    Report=make_set(ReportId), Count=count() by DeviceId, DeviceName

Analytic Rule Definition

id: a06c66b9-35be-4b73-9b9a-4f8710c52c94
name: Remote Management and Monitoring tool - RustDesk - Create Process
description: |
    Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) programs are IT to manage remote endpoints. Attackers have begun to abuse these programs to persist or provide C2 channels.
    https://github.com/jischell-msft/RemoteManagementMonitoringTools
requiredDataConnectors:
- connectorId: MicrosoftThreatProtection
  dataTypes:
  - DeviceProcessEvents
tactics: CommandAndControl
relevantTechniques: T1219
query: |
  let Time_start = now(-5d);
  let Time_end = now();
  //
  DeviceProcessEvents 
  | where Timestamp between (Time_start..Time_end)
  | where ProcessVersionInfoProductName has 'rustdesk'
  | summarize FirstSeen=min(Timestamp), LastSeen=max(Timestamp), 
      Report=make_set(ReportId), Count=count() by DeviceId, DeviceName

Required Data Sources

MITRE ATT&CK Context

• Tactic: CommandAndControl
• Technique: T1219 — T1219

References

• [Source Query](https://github.com/Azure/Azure-Sentinel/blob/main/Hunting Queries/Microsoft 365 Defender/RemoteManagementMonitoring/rmm_RustDesk_createproc.yaml)

False Positive Guidance

• Scenario: IT Admin Deploys RustDesk for Remote Support
  Description: A system administrator uses RustDesk to remotely support end-users by creating a process to connect to a user’s machine.
  Filter/Exclusion: process.name != "RustDesk" OR process.parent.name == "Remote Desktop Services"

• Scenario: Scheduled Job for System Maintenance via RustDesk
  Description: A scheduled task is configured to run a maintenance script using RustDesk to manage multiple endpoints during off-peak hours.
  Filter/Exclusion: process.parent.name == "Task Scheduler" OR process.name == "RustDesk.exe"

• Scenario: RustDesk Used for Patch Management
  Description: IT uses RustDesk to deploy patches or updates to endpoints, which involves creating processes on target machines.
  Filter/Exclusion: process.parent.name == "RustDesk" OR process.name == "RustDesk.exe"

• Scenario: Admin Uses RustDesk to Monitor System Performance
  Description: An admin tool like RustDesk is used to monitor system performance metrics across the network, which may involve creating processes on monitored hosts.
  Filter/Exclusion: process.parent.name == "RustDesk" OR process.name == "RustDesk.exe"

• Scenario: RustDesk Integration with SIEM for Log Collection
  Description: RustDesk is configured to send logs to a SIEM system, which may involve creating processes to facilitate log transmission.
  Filter/Exclusion: process.parent.name == "RustDesk" OR process.name == "RustDesk.exe"