Volume Shadow Copy Deletion via PowerShell

Elastic Stack Serverless Security

Identifies the use of the Win32_ShadowCopy class and related cmdlets to achieve shadow copy deletion. This commonly occurs in tandem with ransomware or other destructive attacks.

Rule type: eql

Rule indices:

• winlogbeat-*
• logs-endpoint.events.*
• logs-windows.*

Severity: high

Risk score: 73

Runs every: 5m

Searches indices from: now-9m (https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/common-options.html#date-math[Date Math format], see also Additional look-back time)

Maximum alerts per execution: 100

References:

• https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/desktop/vsswmi/win32-shadowcopy
• https://powershell.one/wmi/root/cimv2/win32_shadowcopy
• https://www.fortinet.com/blog/threat-research/stomping-shadow-copies-a-second-look-into-deletion-methods

Tags:

• Elastic
• Host
• Windows
• Threat Detection
• Impact

Version: 1

Rule authors:

• Elastic
• Austin Songer

Rule license: Elastic License v2

process where event.type in ("start", "process_started") and
  process.name : ("powershell.exe", "pwsh.exe") and
  process.args : ("*Get-WmiObject*", "*gwmi*", "*Get-CimInstance*", "*gcim*") and
  process.args : ("*Win32_ShadowCopy*") and
  process.args : ("*.Delete()*", "*Remove-WmiObject*", "*rwmi*", "*Remove-CimInstance*", "*rcim*")

Framework: MITRE ATT&CKTM

• Tactic:

  • Name: Impact
  • ID: TA0040
  • Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0040/

• Technique:

  • Name: Inhibit System Recovery
  • ID: T1490
  • Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1490/