Msiexec Quiet Installation — Sigma Rule

Rule metadata and linked tags

Author: frack113. Source status: test; severity: medium. Source dates: 2022-01-16 / 2024-12-01.

{
  "category": "process_creation",
  "product": "windows"
}

Pinned original Sigma rule · Detection Rule License 1.1

Source SHA-256: 2191d4192ed755275ec5af81a441bf7ab91fccf1eddcd8d5dbe3276054b5040b

Detection logic

Original source YAML. Source-tag agreement is not proof of complete semantic coverage. This rule has not been compiled for a SIEM backend or validated against live telemetry here.

title: Msiexec Quiet Installation
id: 79a87aa6-e4bd-42fc-a5bb-5e6fbdcd62f5
status: test
description: |
    Adversaries may abuse msiexec.exe to proxy execution of malicious payloads.
    Msiexec.exe is the command-line utility for the Windows Installer and is thus commonly associated with executing installation packages (.msi)
references:
    - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/msiexec
    - https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/f339e7da7d05f6057fdfcdd3742bfcf365fee2a9/atomics/T1218.007/T1218.007.md
    - https://twitter.com/_st0pp3r_/status/1583914244344799235
author: frack113
date: 2022-01-16
modified: 2024-12-01
tags:
    - attack.stealth
    - attack.t1218.007
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection_img:
        - Image|endswith: '\msiexec.exe'
        - OriginalFileName: 'msiexec.exe'
    selection_cli:
        # Note that there is no space before and after the arguments because it's possible to write a commandline as such
        # Example: msiexec -q/i [MSI Package]
        CommandLine|contains|windash:
            - '-i'
            - '-package'
            - '-a'
            - '-j'
    selection_quiet:
        CommandLine|contains|windash: '-q'
    filter_user_temp:
        # The %temp% is a very common location for installers
        ParentImage|startswith: 'C:\Users\'
        ParentImage|contains: '\AppData\Local\Temp\'
    filter_system_temp:
        ParentImage|startswith: 'C:\Windows\Temp\'
    filter_ccm:
        ParentImage: 'C:\Windows\CCM\Ccm32BitLauncher.exe'
        IntegrityLevel:
            - 'System'
            - 'S-1-16-16384'
    condition: all of selection_* and not 1 of filter_*
falsepositives:
    - WindowsApps installing updates via the quiet flag
level: medium

Original YAML and metadata in JSON

False positives

• WindowsApps installing updates via the quiet flag

Source references

• https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/msiexec
• https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/f339e7da7d05f6057fdfcdd3742bfcf365fee2a9/atomics/T1218.007/T1218.007.md
• https://twitter.com/_st0pp3r_/status/1583914244344799235