WinSock2 Autorun Keys Modification

Hunt Hypothesis

Detects modification of autostart extensibility point (ASEP) in registry.

Detection Rule

Sigma (Original)

title: WinSock2 Autorun Keys Modification
id: d6c2ce7e-afb5-4337-9ca4-4b5254ed0565
related:
    - id: 17f878b8-9968-4578-b814-c4217fc5768c
      type: derived
status: test
description: Detects modification of autostart extensibility point (ASEP) in registry.
references:
    - https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/f339e7da7d05f6057fdfcdd3742bfcf365fee2a9/atomics/T1547.001/T1547.001.md
    - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/autoruns
    - https://gist.github.com/GlebSukhodolskiy/0fc5fa5f482903064b448890db1eaf9d # a list with registry keys
author: Victor Sergeev, Daniil Yugoslavskiy, Gleb Sukhodolskiy, Timur Zinniatullin, oscd.community, Tim Shelton, frack113 (split)
date: 2019-10-25
modified: 2023-08-17
tags:
    - attack.privilege-escalation
    - attack.persistence
    - attack.t1547.001
logsource:
    category: registry_set
    product: windows
detection:
    winsock_parameters_base:
        TargetObject|contains: '\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\WinSock2\Parameters'
    winsock_parameters:
        TargetObject|contains:
            - '\Protocol_Catalog9\Catalog_Entries'
            - '\NameSpace_Catalog5\Catalog_Entries'
    filter:
        - Details: '(Empty)'
        - Image: 'C:\Windows\System32\MsiExec.exe'
        - Image: 'C:\Windows\syswow64\MsiExec.exe'
    condition: winsock_parameters_base and winsock_parameters and not filter
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate software automatically (mostly, during installation) sets up autorun keys for legitimate reason
    - Legitimate administrator sets up autorun keys for legitimate reason
level: medium

KQL (Azure Sentinel)

imRegistry
| where RegistryKey contains "\\System\\CurrentControlSet\\Services\\WinSock2\\Parameters" and (RegistryKey contains "\\Protocol_Catalog9\\Catalog_Entries" or RegistryKey contains "\\NameSpace_Catalog5\\Catalog_Entries") and (not((RegistryValueData =~ "(Empty)" or ActingProcessName =~ "C:\\Windows\\System32\\MsiExec.exe" or ActingProcessName =~ "C:\\Windows\\syswow64\\MsiExec.exe")))

Required Data Sources

False Positive Guidance

• Legitimate software automatically (mostly, during installation) sets up autorun keys for legitimate reason
• Legitimate administrator sets up autorun keys for legitimate reason

MITRE ATT&CK Context

• Tactic: Privilege Escalation
• Tactic: Persistence
• Technique: T1547.001 — T1547.001

References

• https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/f339e7da7d05f6057fdfcdd3742bfcf365fee2a9/atomics/T1547.001/T1547.001.md
• https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/autoruns
• https://gist.github.com/GlebSukhodolskiy/0fc5fa5f482903064b448890db1eaf9d
• SigmaHQ Rule