ATT&CK coverage › Technique

Software Extensions: Browser Extensions T1176.001

Adversaries may abuse internet browser extensions to establish persistent access to victim systems. Browser extensions or plugins are small programs that can add functionality to and customize aspects of internet browsers. They can be installed directly via a local file or custom URL or through a browser's app store - an official online platform where users can browse, install, and manage extensions for a specific web browser. Extensions generally inherit the web browser's permissions previously granted. Malicious extensions can be installed into a browser through malicious app store downloads masquerading as legitimate extensions, through social engineering, or by an adversary that has already compromised a system. Security can be limited on browser app stores, so it may not be difficult for malicious extensions to defeat automated scanners. Depending on the browser, adversaries may also manipulate an extension's update url to install updates from an adversary-controlled server or manipulate the mobile configuration file to silently install additional extensions.

Events covered

2 catalog events are tagged with this technique by at least one rule.

ProviderEvent IDTitle
Sysmon1Process creation
Security-Auditing4688A new process has been created.

Authoring guide

Patterns shared across the 2 rules above: which fields they filter on, what specific values they look for, and what they exclude. Field names are normalized across vendors so Sigma's Image, Elastic's process.name, and Splunk's process_name collapse into one row. Each rule contributes at most once per row.

Fields filtered most (3 distinct)

The fields most rules look at when detecting this technique. The How column shows the operators authors use (eq, wildcard, regex_match, match) and how often each appears. Sample values are concrete examples to start from, not an exhaustive list.

FieldRulesHowSample values
Image2ends_with 2\chrome.exe, \opera.exe, \vivaldi.exe
CommandLine2match 2--load-extension=
ParentImage1ends_with 1\rundll32.exe, \pwsh.exe, \regsvr32.exe

Top indicator values (14 distinct)

Specific (field, operator, value) combinations the rules check for, ranked by how many rules under this technique use each one. The Corpus reach column counts how many rules across the entire catalog (any technique) check the same combination. High numbers point to widely-used indicators that are likely noisy on their own; combine them with another condition for useful signal. Blank means the combination is specific to rules under this technique.

FieldKindValueRules (here)Corpus reach
Imageends_with\msedge.exe222
Imageends_with\vivaldi.exe219
CommandLinematch--load-extension=22
Imageends_with\brave.exe220
Imageends_with\chrome.exe211
Imageends_with\opera.exe221
ParentImageends_with\cmd.exe113
ParentImageends_with\mshta.exe110
ParentImageends_with\regsvr32.exe111
ParentImageends_with\powershell.exe116
ParentImageends_with\pwsh.exe116
ParentImageends_with\wscript.exe114
ParentImageends_with\rundll32.exe112
ParentImageends_with\cscript.exe114

Rules under this technique

Every rule in the catalog tagged with this technique, grouped by vendor. Click a rule title for its full predicates, exclusions, and indicators.

Sigma 2 rules