Execution of COM object via Xwizard

Elastic Stack Serverless Security

Windows Component Object Model (COM) is an inter-process communication (IPC) component of the native Windows application programming interface (API) that enables interaction between software objects or executable code. Xwizard can be used to run a COM object created in registry to evade defensive counter measures.

Rule type: eql

Rule indices:

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

Severity: medium

Risk score: 47

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://lolbas-project.github.io/lolbas/Binaries/Xwizard/
• http://www.hexacorn.com/blog/2017/07/31/the-wizard-of-x-oppa-plugx-style/

Tags:

• Elastic
• Host
• Windows
• Threat Detection
• Execution

Version: 101

Rule authors:

• Elastic

Rule license: Elastic License v2

process where event.type == "start" and
 process.pe.original_file_name : "xwizard.exe" and
 (
   (process.args : "RunWizard" and process.args : "{*}") or
   (process.executable != null and
     not process.executable : ("C:\\Windows\\SysWOW64\\xwizard.exe", "C:\\Windows\\System32\\xwizard.exe")
   )
 )

Framework: MITRE ATT&CKTM

• Tactic:

  • Name: Execution
  • ID: TA0002
  • Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0002/

• Technique:

  • Name: Inter-Process Communication
  • ID: T1559
  • Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1559/

• Sub-technique:

  • Name: Component Object Model
  • ID: T1559.001
  • Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1559/001/