Detection rules › Splunk
Rundll32 Create Remote Thread To A Process
The following analytic detects the creation of a remote thread by rundll32.exe into another process. It leverages Sysmon EventCode 8 logs, specifically monitoring SourceImage and TargetImage fields. This activity is significant as it is a common technique used by malware, such as IcedID, to execute malicious code within legitimate processes, aiding in defense evasion and data theft. If confirmed malicious, this behavior could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code, escalate privileges, and exfiltrate sensitive information from the compromised host.
MITRE ATT&CK coverage
| Tactic | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Privilege Escalation | T1055 Process Injection |
| Defense Evasion | T1055 Process Injection |
Event coverage
| Provider | Event ID | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Sysmon | 8 | CreateRemoteThread |
Stages and Predicates
Stage 1: search
search EventCode=8 SourceImage="*\\rundll32.exe" TargetImage="*.exe"
Stage 2: stats
stats BY EventID, Guid, NewThreadId, ProcessID, SecurityID, SourceImage, SourceProcessGuid, SourceProcessId, StartAddress, StartFunction, StartModule, TargetImage, TargetProcessGuid, TargetProcessId, UserID, dest, parent_process_exec, parent_process_guid, parent_process_id, parent_process_name, parent_process_path, process_exec, process_guid, process_id, process_name, process_path, signature, signature_id, user_id, vendor_product
Stage 3: search
search
Stage 4: search
search
Stage 5: search
search `macro`
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.
| Field | Kind | Values |
|---|---|---|
EventCode | eq |
|
SourceImage | eq |
|
TargetImage | eq |
|