HackTool - WinPwn Execution
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In this page
Rule name | Rule type | Log sources | MITRE ATT&CK tags | Severity |
HackTool - WinPwn Execution | Standard | Windows | Privilege Escalation: Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068) | Critical |
About the rule
Rule Type
Standard
Rule Description
Detects commandline keywords indicative of potential usage of the tool WinPwn. A tool for Windows and Active Directory reconnaissance and exploitation.
Severity
Trouble
Rule journey
Attack chain scenario
Initial access → Tool deployment → Privilege escalation → Reconnaissance execution → Credential dumping → Lateral movement
Impact
- Privilege escalation
- Credential theft
- Domain enumeration
- Lateral movement
Rule Requirement
Prerequisites
- Using Windows event viewer:
To enable detailed process tracking, log in to a domain controller with domain admin credentials and open the Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) by typing gpmc.msc in the Run dialog. Create or edit a GPO linked to the target OU, then navigate to Advanced Audit Policy Configuration > Detailed Tracking and enable success auditing for both Audit Process Creation and Audit Process Termination. For enhanced visibility, go to Audit Process Creation under Administrative Templates and enable the policy to include command-line information in process events. Lastly, ensure the registry key Microsoft-Windows-Security-Auditing/Operational exists under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\EventLog\.
- Using Sysmon:
To set up Sysmon for process creation monitoring, download and install it from Microsoft Sysinternals, and run the installation using an appropriate configuration file via sysmon.exe -i [configfile.xml]. Ensure your configuration includes rules to capture process creation events, and create the registry key Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\EventLog\ if it doesn't already exist. This setup enables comprehensive tracking of process activities for enhanced visibility.
Criteria
Action1: actionname = "Process started" AND COMMANDLINE contains "Offline_Winpwn,WinPwn ,WinPwn.exe,WinPwn.ps1" select Action1.HOSTNAME,Action1.MESSAGE,Action1.COMMANDLINE,Action1.FILE_NAME,Action1.PROCESSNAME,Action1.USERNAME,Action1.PARENTPROCESSNAME
Detection
Execution Mode
realtime
Log Sources
Active Directory
MITRE ATT&CK
- Privilege Escalation: Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068)
Security Standards
Enabling this rule will help you meet the security standard's requirements listed below:
- NIST SP 800-53: SI-4 (System Monitoring)
Requires organizations to monitor systems to detect suspicious activity.
Triggering this rule supports continuous system monitoring by identifying reconnaissance and exploitation tools like WinPwn used against Active Directory. - NIST SP 800-53: AU-6 (Audit Review, Analysis, and Reporting)
Mandates regular analysis of audit logs to identify potential threats.
Triggering this rule enables proactive analysis by flagging commands associated with unauthorized tools, facilitating timely incident investigation. - NIST SP 800-53: IR-5 (Incident Monitoring)
Requires real-time monitoring to support incident response efforts.
Triggering this rule provides actionable alerts that aid rapid response to adversarial behavior indicating internal reconnaissance or privilege escalation attempts. - NIST SP 800-171: 3.3.1 (System and Communications Protection)
Focuses on monitoring to detect unauthorized use of network services.
Triggering this rule helps detect misuse of domain tools and enhances system communications protection through early threat detection. - NIST CSF: DE.CM-7 (Monitoring for Unauthorized Personnel, Devices, and Software)
Emphasizes detecting unauthorized software and user behavior.
Triggering this rule helps identify unapproved or malicious script executions tied to WinPwn, enforcing software control and accountability.
Author
Swachchhanda Shrawan Poudel
Future actions
Known False Positives
This rule will be triggered if a legitimate administrator runs internal PowerShell scripts or tools with keywords like "winpwn" for lab testing or audit purposes. It may also flag automation tools that share similar naming conventions unintentionally.
Next Steps
When this rule is triggered, the following measures can be implemented:
- Identification: Identify if the flagged event is a new incident or part of an existing incident.
- Analysis: Analyze the impact and extent of the incident to comprehend the severity of the attack using the Incident Workbench.
- Response: Respond promptly by initiating an automated workflow to interrupt the network connections and cease the malicious process.
- Containment: Isolate the affected endpoint from the network to prevent lateral movement or further exploitation within the Active Directory environment.
- Eradication: Remove any unauthorized tools or scripts and patch vulnerabilities that may have been exploited using WinPwn.
Mitigation
Mitigation IDs | Mitigation Name | Description |
M1042 | Disable or Remove Feature or Program | Ensure that unnecessary ports and services are closed to prevent risk of discovery and potential exploitation. |
M1031 | Network Intrusion Prevention | Use network intrusion detection/prevention systems to detect and prevent remote service scans. |
M1030 | Network Segmentation | Ensure proper network segmentation is followed to protect critical servers and devices. |
M1047 | Audit | Check for common UAC bypass weaknesses on Windows systems to be aware of the risk posture and address issues where appropriate.(Citation: Github UACMe) |
M1026 | Privileged Account Management | Remove users from the local administrator group on systems. |
M1051 | Update Software | Consider updating Windows to the latest version and patch level to utilize the latest protective measures against UAC bypass.(Citation: Github UACMe) |
M1052 | User Account Control | Although UAC bypass techniques exist, it is still prudent to use the highest enforcement level for UAC when possible and mitigate bypass opportunities that exist with techniques such as DLL Search Order Hijacking. |
M1040 | Behavior Prevention on Endpoint | On Windows 10, enable Attack Surface Reduction (ASR) rules to prevent Office VBA macros from calling Win32 APIs. (Citation: win10_asr) |
M1038 | Execution Prevention | Identify and block potentially malicious software executed that may be executed through this technique by using application control (Citation: Beechey 2010) tools, like Windows Defender Application Control (Citation: Microsoft Windows Defender Application Control), AppLocker, (Citation: Windows Commands JPCERT) (Citation: NSA MS AppLocker) or Software Restriction Policies (Citation: Corio 2008) where appropriate. (Citation: TechNet Applocker vs SRP) |
M1027 | Password Policies | Establish an organizational policy that prohibits password storage in files. |
M1022 | Restrict File and Directory Permissions | Restrict file shares to specific directories with access only to necessary users. |
M1017 | User Training | Ensure that developers and system administrators are aware of the risk associated with having plaintext passwords in software configuration files that may be left on endpoint systems or servers. |
M1021 | Restrict Web-Based Content | Restrict or block web-based content that could be used to extract session cookies or credentials stored in browsers. Use browser security settings, such as disabling third-party cookies and restricting browser extensions, to limit the attack surface. |
M1018 | User Account Management | Implement strict user account management policies to prevent unnecessary accounts from accessing sensitive systems. Regularly audit user accounts to identify and disable inactive accounts that may be targeted by attackers to extract credentials or gain unauthorized access. |
