Detectionhighexperimental

Suspicious Velociraptor Child Process

Detects the suspicious use of the Velociraptor DFIR tool to execute other tools or download additional payloads, as seen in a campaign where it was abused for remote access and to stage further attacks.

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Launch
Swachchhanda Shrawan Poudel (Nextron Systems)Created Fri Aug 294bc90587-e6ca-4b41-be0b-ed4d04e4ed0cwindows
Log Source
WindowsProcess Creation
ProductWindows← raw: windows
CategoryProcess Creation← raw: process_creation

Events generated when a new process is spawned on the system. Covers command-line arguments, parent/child relationships, and process metadata.

Detection Logic
Detection Logic4 selectors
detection:
    selection_parent:
        ParentImage|endswith: '\Velociraptor.exe'
    selection_child_vscode_tunnel:
        CommandLine|contains|all:
            - 'code.exe'
            - 'tunnel'
            - '--accept-server-license-terms'
    selection_child_msiexec:
        CommandLine|contains|all:
            - 'msiexec'
            - '/i'
            - 'http'
    selection_child_powershell:
        Image|endswith:
            - '\powershell.exe'
            - '\powershell_ise.exe'
            - '\pwsh.exe'
        CommandLine|contains:
            - 'Invoke-WebRequest '
            - 'IWR '
            - '.DownloadFile'
            - '.DownloadString'
    # Add more child process patterns as needed
    condition: selection_parent and 1 of selection_child_*
False Positives

Legitimate administrators or incident responders might use Velociraptor to execute scripts or tools. However, the combination of Velociraptor spawning these specific processes with these command lines is suspicious. Tuning may be required to exclude known administrative actions or specific scripts.

Rule Metadata
Rule ID
4bc90587-e6ca-4b41-be0b-ed4d04e4ed0c
Status
experimental
Level
high
Type
Detection
Created
Fri Aug 29
Path
rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_susp_velociraptor_child_process.yml
Raw Tags
attack.command-and-controlattack.persistenceattack.defense-evasionattack.t1219
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