[metadata] creation_date = "2020/11/29" maturity = "production" updated_date = "2021/05/10" [rule] author = ["Elastic"] description = """ A scheduled task was created by a Windows script via cscript.exe, wscript.exe or powershell.exe. This can be abused by an adversary to establish persistence. """ false_positives = ["Legitimate scheduled tasks may be created during installation of new software."] from = "now-9m" index = ["winlogbeat-*", "logs-endpoint.events.*", "logs-windows.*"] language = "eql" license = "Elastic License v2" name = "Scheduled Task Created by a Windows Script" note = """## Triage and analysis Decode the base64 encoded Tasks Actions registry value to investigate the task's configured action.""" risk_score = 47 rule_id = "689b9d57-e4d5-4357-ad17-9c334609d79a" severity = "medium" tags = ["Elastic", "Host", "Windows", "Threat Detection", "Persistence"] type = "eql" query = ''' sequence by host.id with maxspan = 30s [library where dll.name : "taskschd.dll" and process.name : ("cscript.exe", "wscript.exe", "powershell.exe")] [registry where registry.path : "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Schedule\\TaskCache\\Tasks\\*\\Actions"] ''' [[rule.threat]] framework = "MITRE ATT&CK" [[rule.threat.technique]] id = "T1053" name = "Scheduled Task/Job" reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1053/" [rule.threat.tactic] id = "TA0003" name = "Persistence" reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0003/"