Suspicious RDP ActiveX Client Loaded
Identifies suspicious Image Loading of the Remote Desktop Services ActiveX Client (mstscax), this may indicate the presence of RDP lateral movement capability.
Rule type: eql
Rule indices:
- logs-endpoint.events.*
- winlogbeat-*
- 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:
Tags:
- Elastic
- Host
- Windows
- Threat Detection
- Lateral Movement
Version: 6
Rule authors:
- Elastic
Rule license: Elastic License v2
any where (event.category == "library" or (event.category == "process" and event.action : "Image loaded*")) and
(dll.name : "mstscax.dll" or file.name : "mstscax.dll") and
/* depending on noise in your env add here extra paths */
process.executable :
(
"C:\\Windows\\*",
"C:\\Users\\Public\\*",
"C:\\Users\\Default\\*",
"C:\\Intel\\*",
"C:\\PerfLogs\\*",
"C:\\ProgramData\\*",
"\\Device\\Mup\\*",
"\\\\*"
) and
/* add here FPs */
not process.executable : ("C:\\Windows\\System32\\mstsc.exe", "C:\\Windows\\SysWOW64\\mstsc.exe")
Framework: MITRE ATT&CKTM
Tactic:
- Name: Lateral Movement
- ID: TA0008
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0008/
Technique:
- Name: Remote Services
- ID: T1021
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1021/