Windows Process Injection Remote Thread

SPLUNK detection rule by Teoderick Contreras, Splunk · Apache-2.0

The following analytic detects suspicious remote thread execution in processes such as Taskmgr.exe, calc.exe, and notepad.exe, which may indicate process injection by malware like Qakbot. This detection leverages Sysmon EventCode 8 to identify remote thread creation in specific target processes. This activity is significant as it often signifies an attempt by malware to inject malicious code into legitimate processes, potentially leading to unauthorized code execution. If confirmed malicious, this could allow attackers to execute arbitrary code, escalate privileges, or maintain persistence on the compromised host.

name: Windows Process Injection Remote Thread
id: 8a618ade-ca8f-4d04-b972-2d526ba59924
version: 15
creation_date: '2022-10-28'
modification_date: '2026-08-14'
author: Teoderick Contreras, Splunk
status: production
type: TTP
description: |
    The following analytic detects suspicious remote thread execution in processes such as Taskmgr.exe, calc.exe, and notepad.exe, which may indicate process injection by malware like Qakbot. This detection leverages Sysmon EventCode 8 to identify remote thread creation in specific target processes. This activity is significant as it often signifies an attempt by malware to inject malicious code into legitimate processes, potentially leading to unauthorized code execution. If confirmed malicious, this could allow attackers to execute arbitrary code, escalate privileges, or maintain persistence on the compromised host.
data_source:
    - Sysmon EventID 8
search: |-
    `sysmon`
    EventCode=8
    TargetImage IN (
        "*\\calc.exe",
        "*\\CalculatorApp.exe",
        "*\\cmd.exe",
        "*\\dxdiag.exe",
        "*\\explorer.exe",
        "*\\mobsync.exe",
        "*\\msra.exe",
        "*\\notepad.exe",
        "*\\OneDriveSetup.exe",
        "*\\ping.exe",
        "*\\powershell.exe",
        "*\\rdpclip.exe",
        "*\\Taskmgr.exe",
        "*\\wermgr.exe",
        "*\\win32calc.exe",
        "*\\xwizard.exe"
    )
    | stats count min(_time) as firstTime
                  max(_time) as lastTime
                  values(NewThreadId) as "NewThreadId"
                  values(StartAddress) as "StartAddress"
      by dest signature_id signature
         SourceProcessGuid SourceProcessId SourceImage
         TargetProcessGuid TargetProcessId TargetImage
         StartModule StartFunction vendor_product
    | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
    | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
    | `windows_process_injection_remote_thread_filter`
how_to_implement: To successfully implement this search, you must be ingesting data that records process activity from your hosts like remote thread EventCode=8 of sysmon. If you are using Sysmon, you must have at least version 6.0.4 of the Sysmon TA.
known_false_positives: No false positives have been identified at this time.
references:
    - https://twitter.com/pr0xylife/status/1585612370441031680?s=46&t=Dc3CJi4AnM-8rNoacLbScg
    - https://thedfirreport.com/2023/06/12/a-truly-graceful-wipe-out/
drilldown_searches:
    - name: View the detection results for - "$dest$"
      search: '%original_detection_search% | search  dest = "$dest$"'
      earliest_offset: $info_min_time$
      latest_offset: $info_max_time$
    - name: View risk events for the last 7 days for - "$dest$"
      search: '| from datamodel Risk.All_Risk | search normalized_risk_object IN ("$dest$") | stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime values(search_name) as "Search Name" values(risk_message) as "Risk Message" values(analyticstories) as "Analytic Stories" values(annotations._all) as "Annotations" values(annotations.mitre_attack.mitre_tactic) as "ATT&CK Tactics" by normalized_risk_object | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`'
      earliest_offset: 7d
      latest_offset: "0"
finding:
    title: process $SourceImage$ created a remote thread in target process $TargetImage$ on host $dest$
    entity:
        field: dest
        type: system
        score: 50
threat_objects:
    - field: SourceImage
      type: process
analytic_story:
    - Qakbot
    - Graceful Wipe Out Attack
    - Warzone RAT
    - Earth Alux
    - Water Gamayun
    - Phantom Stealer
    - Vidar Stealer
asset_type: Endpoint
mitre_attack_id:
    - T1055.002
product:
    - Splunk Enterprise
    - Splunk Enterprise Security
    - Splunk Cloud
category: endpoint
security_domain: endpoint
tests:
    - name: True Positive Test
      attack_data:
        - data: https://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/malware/qakbot/qbot_wermgr2/sysmon_wermgr2.log
          source: XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational
          sourcetype: XmlWinEventLog
      test_type: unit

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7ec97102-61b6-41a5-bc81-cfa5cfb88d93

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