Installation of Custom Shim Databasesedit

Identifies the installation of custom Application Compatibility Shim databases. This Windows functionality has been abused by attackers to stealthily gain persistence and arbitrary code execution in legitimate Windows processes.

Rule type: eql

Rule indices:

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

Severity: medium

Risk score: 47

Runs every: 5m

Searches indices from: now-9m (Date Math format, see also Additional look-back time)

Maximum alerts per execution: 100

References: None

Tags:

  • Domain: Endpoint
  • OS: Windows
  • Use Case: Threat Detection
  • Tactic: Persistence
  • Data Source: Elastic Defend

Version: 105

Rule authors:

  • Elastic

Rule license: Elastic License v2

Rule queryedit

sequence by process.entity_id with maxspan = 5m
  [process where host.os.type == "windows" and event.type == "start" and
    not (process.name : "sdbinst.exe" and process.parent.name : "msiexec.exe")]
  [registry where host.os.type == "windows" and event.type in ("creation", "change") and
    registry.path : "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\AppCompatFlags\\Custom\\*.sdb"]

Framework: MITRE ATT&CKTM