Detection rules › Sigma

MSDT Execution Via Answer File

Severity
high
Author
Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
Source
upstream

Detects execution of "msdt.exe" using an answer file which is simulating the legitimate way of calling msdt via "pcwrun.exe" (For example from the compatibility tab).

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

TacticTechniques
Defense EvasionT1218 System Binary Proxy Execution

Event coverage

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

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: selection

CommandLine|contains: ' -af '
CommandLine|contains: '\WINDOWS\diagnostics\index\PCWDiagnostic.xml'
Image|endswith: '\msdt.exe'

Stage 2: not 1 of filter_main_pcwrun

ParentImage|endswith: '\pcwrun.exe'

Indicators

Each row is a field, operator, and value that the rule matches. The corpus column counts how many other rules in the catalog look for the same combination: high numbers point to widely-used, community-vetted indicators. Blank or 1 shows that the indicator is specific to this rule.

FieldKindValues
CommandLinematch
  • -af corpus 2 (sigma 2)
  • \WINDOWS\diagnostics\index\PCWDiagnostic.xml
Imageends_with
  • \msdt.exe corpus 10 (sigma 10)
ParentImageends_with
  • \pcwrun.exe corpus 2 (sigma 2)