Detection rules › Splunk

Windows ISO LNK File Creation

Author
Michael Haag, Teoderick Contreras, Splunk
Source
upstream

The following analytic detects the creation of .iso.lnk files in the %USER%\AppData\Local\Temp<random folder name>\ path, indicating that an ISO file has been mounted and accessed. This detection leverages the Endpoint.Filesystem data model, specifically monitoring file creation events in the Windows Recent folder. This activity is significant as it may indicate the delivery and execution of potentially malicious payloads via ISO files. If confirmed malicious, this could lead to unauthorized code execution, data exfiltration, or further system compromise.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

TacticTechniques
Initial AccessT1566.001 Phishing: Spearphishing Attachment
ExecutionT1204.001 User Execution: Malicious Link

Event coverage

ProviderEvent IDTitle
Sysmon11FileCreate

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: tstats

tstats WHERE Filesystem.file_name IN ("*.img.lnk", "*.iso.lnk", "*.vhd.lnk", "*vhdx.lnk") Filesystem.file_path="*\\Microsoft\\Windows\\Recent\\*" BY Filesystem.action, Filesystem.dest, Filesystem.file_access_time, Filesystem.file_create_time, Filesystem.file_hash, Filesystem.file_modify_time, Filesystem.file_name, Filesystem.file_path, Filesystem.file_acl, Filesystem.file_size, Filesystem.process_guid, Filesystem.process_id, Filesystem.user, Filesystem.vendor_product

Stage 2: search

search

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.

FieldKindValues
Filesystem.file_namein
  • "*.img.lnk"
  • "*.iso.lnk"
  • "*.vhd.lnk"
  • "*vhdx.lnk"
Filesystem.file_pathin
  • "*\\Microsoft\\Windows\\Recent\\*"