Detection rules › Splunk
Windows Suspicious Driver Loaded Path
The following analytic detects the loading of drivers from suspicious paths, which is a technique often used by malicious software such as coin miners (e.g., xmrig). It leverages Sysmon EventCode 6 to identify drivers loaded from non-standard directories. This activity is significant because legitimate drivers typically reside in specific system directories, and deviations may indicate malicious activity. If confirmed malicious, this could allow an attacker to execute code at the kernel level, potentially leading to privilege escalation, persistence, or further system compromise.
MITRE ATT&CK coverage
| Tactic | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Persistence | T1543.003 Create or Modify System Process: Windows Service |
| Privilege Escalation | T1543.003 Create or Modify System Process: Windows Service |
Event coverage
| Provider | Event ID | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Sysmon | 6 | Driver loaded |
Stages and Predicates
Stage 1: search
search EventCode=6 ImageLoaded IN ("*:\\Windows\\Cursors\\*", "*:\\Windows\\Prefetch\\*", "*Recycle.bin*", "*\\PerfLogs\\*", "*\\Users\\Administrator\\Music\\*", "*\\Windows\\Media\\*", "*\\appdata\\*", "*\\download*", "*\\temp\\*", "*\\users\\public\\*", "*\\windows\\debug\\*", "*\\windows\\fonts\\*", "\\Windows\\repair\\*")
Stage 2: stats
stats BY ImageLoaded, dest, dvc, process_hash, 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 |
|
ImageLoaded | in |
|
Neighbors
Broader alternatives (more inclusive than this rule)
These rules match a superset of what this rule catches. They cover the same events plus more. Use them if you want wider coverage and can absorb more false positives.
- Windows Drivers Loaded by Signature (drops 1 filter this rule applies)
- Windows Vulnerable Driver Loaded (drops 1 filter this rule applies)