MaxPatrol EDR

Safeguards endpoints from advanced and targeted attacks, supports all popular operating systems

T1137: Office Application Startup

Adversaries may leverage Microsoft Office-based applications for persistence between startups. Microsoft Office is a fairly common application suite on Windows-based operating systems within an enterprise network. There are multiple mechanisms that can be used with Office for persistence when an Office-based application is started; this can include the use of Office Template Macros and add-ins.

A variety of features have been discovered in Outlook that can be abused to obtain persistence, such as Outlook rules, forms, and Home Page. These persistence mechanisms can work within Outlook or be used through Office 365.

Positive Technologies products that cover the technique

Description of detection methods is not available yet

Detection

IDDS0011Data source and componentModule: Module LoadDescription

Monitor DLL/PE file events, specifically creation of these binary files as well as the loading of DLLs into processes. Look for DLLs that are not recognized or not normally loaded into a process.

IDDS0015Data source and componentApplication Log: Application Log ContentDescription

Monitor for third-party application logging, messaging, and/or other artifacts that may leverage Microsoft Office-based applications for persistence between startups. SensePost, whose tool Ruler can be used to carry out malicious rules, forms, and Home Page attacks, has released a tool to detect Ruler usage.

IDDS0009Data source and componentProcess: Process CreationDescription

Monitor newly executed processes that may leverage Microsoft Office-based applications for persistence between startups. Collect process execution information including process IDs (PID) and parent process IDs (PPID) and look for abnormal chains of activity resulting from Office processes. Non-standard process execution trees may also indicate suspicious or malicious behavior. If winword.exe is the parent process for suspicious processes and activity relating to other adversarial techniques, then it could indicate that the application was used maliciously.

IDDS0024Data source and componentWindows Registry: Windows Registry Key ModificationDescription

Many Office-related persistence mechanisms require changes to the Registry and for binaries, files, or scripts to be written to disk or existing files modified to include malicious scripts. Collect events related to Registry key creation and modification for keys that could be used for Office-based persistence.

IDDS0017Data source and componentCommand: Command ExecutionDescription

Monitor executed commands and arguments that may leverage Microsoft Office-based applications for persistence between startups. Microsoft has released a PowerShell script to safely gather mail forwarding rules and custom forms in your mail environment as well as steps to interpret the output. SensePost, whose tool Ruler can be used to carry out malicious rules, forms, and Home Page attacks, has released a tool to detect Ruler usage.

IDDS0024Data source and componentWindows Registry: Windows Registry Key CreationDescription

Many Office-related persistence mechanisms require changes to the Registry and for binaries, files, or scripts to be written to disk or existing files modified to include malicious scripts. Collect events related to Registry key creation and modification for keys that could be used for Office-based persistence.

IDDS0022Data source and componentFile: File ModificationDescription

Monitor for changes made to files that may leverage Microsoft Office-based applications for persistence between startups.

IDDS0022Data source and componentFile: File CreationDescription

Monitor for newly constructed files that may leverage Microsoft Office-based applications for persistence between startups.

Mitigation

IDM1042NameDisable or Remove Feature or ProgramDescription

Follow Office macro security best practices suitable for your environment. Disable Office VBA macros from executing.

Disable Office add-ins. If they are required, follow best practices for securing them by requiring them to be signed and disabling user notification for allowing add-ins. For some add-ins types (WLL, VBA) additional mitigation is likely required as disabling add-ins in the Office Trust Center does not disable WLL nor does it prevent VBA code from executing.

IDM1040NameBehavior Prevention on EndpointDescription

On Windows 10, enable Attack Surface Reduction (ASR) rules to prevent Office applications from creating child processes and from writing potentially malicious executable content to disk.

IDM1051NameUpdate SoftwareDescription

For the Outlook methods, blocking macros may be ineffective as the Visual Basic engine used for these features is separate from the macro scripting engine. Microsoft has released patches to try to address each issue. Ensure KB3191938 which blocks Outlook Visual Basic and displays a malicious code warning, KB4011091 which disables custom forms by default, and KB4011162 which removes the legacy Home Page feature, are applied to systems.

IDM1054NameSoftware ConfigurationDescription

For the Office Test method, create the Registry key used to execute it and set the permissions to "Read Control" to prevent easy access to the key without administrator permissions or requiring Privilege Escalation.