IMPORTANT: No additional bug fixes or documentation updates
will be released for this version. For the latest information, see the
current release documentation.
Privilege Escalation via Windir Environment Variableedit
Identifies a privilege escalation attempt via a rogue Windows directory (Windir) environment variable. This is a known primitive that is often combined with other vulnerabilities to elevate privileges.
Rule type: eql
Rule indices:
- logs-endpoint.events.*
- endgame-*
Severity: high
Risk score: 73
Runs every: 5m
Searches indices from: now-9m (Date Math format, see also Additional look-back time)
Maximum alerts per execution: 100
References:
Tags:
- Domain: Endpoint
- OS: Windows
- Use Case: Threat Detection
- Tactic: Privilege Escalation
- Data Source: Elastic Endgame
- Data Source: Elastic Defend
Version: 104
Rule authors:
- Elastic
Rule license: Elastic License v2
Rule queryedit
registry where host.os.type == "windows" and registry.path : (
"HKEY_USERS\\*\\Environment\\windir",
"HKEY_USERS\\*\\Environment\\systemroot",
"\\REGISTRY\\USER\\*\\Environment\\windir",
"\\REGISTRY\\USER\\*\\Environment\\systemroot"
) and
not registry.data.strings : ("C:\\windows", "%SystemRoot%")
Framework: MITRE ATT&CKTM
-
Tactic:
- Name: Privilege Escalation
- ID: TA0004
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0004/
-
Technique:
- Name: Hijack Execution Flow
- ID: T1574
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1574/
-
Sub-technique:
- Name: Path Interception by PATH Environment Variable
- ID: T1574.007
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1574/007/