UAC Bypass Using PkgMgr and DISM

Hunt Hypothesis

Detects the pattern of UAC Bypass using pkgmgr.exe and dism.exe (UACMe 23)

Detection Rule

Sigma (Original)

title: UAC Bypass Using PkgMgr and DISM
id: a743ceba-c771-4d75-97eb-8a90f7f4844c
status: test
description: Detects the pattern of UAC Bypass using pkgmgr.exe and dism.exe (UACMe 23)
references:
    - https://github.com/hfiref0x/UACME
author: Christian Burkard (Nextron Systems)
date: 2021-08-23
modified: 2024-12-01
tags:
    - attack.privilege-escalation
    - attack.t1548.002
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection:
        ParentImage|endswith: '\pkgmgr.exe'
        Image|endswith: '\dism.exe'
        IntegrityLevel:
            - 'High'
            - 'System'
            - 'S-1-16-16384' # System
            - 'S-1-16-12288' # High
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Unknown
level: high

KQL (Azure Sentinel)

imProcessCreate
| where (ParentProcessName endswith "\\pkgmgr.exe" or ActingProcessName endswith "\\pkgmgr.exe") and TargetProcessName endswith "\\dism.exe" and (TargetProcessIntegrityLevel in~ ("High", "System", "S-1-16-16384", "S-1-16-12288"))

Required Data Sources

False Positive Guidance

• Unknown

MITRE ATT&CK Context

• Tactic: Privilege Escalation
• Technique: T1548.002 — T1548.002

References

• https://github.com/hfiref0x/UACME
• SigmaHQ Rule