Techniques › T1204 › AN1314
AN1314 Analytic 1314
Windows · attack.mitre.org · ATT&CK Enterprise v19.2
<p>Cause→effect chain: (1) User-facing app (Office/PDF/archiver/browser) records an open/click or abnormal event, then (2) a downloaded file is created in a user-writable path and/or decompressed, (3) the parent user app spawns a living-off-the-land binary (e.g., powershell/cmd/mshta/rundll32/msiexec/wscript/expand/zip) or installer, and (4) immediate outbound HTTP(S)/DNS/SMB from the same lineage.</p>
- Detects
- T1204 User Execution
- Part of
- DET0478 User Execution – multi-surface behavior chain (documents/links → helper/unpacker → LOLBIN/child → egress)
Log sources and channels
Exactly as MITRE states them in x_mitre_log_source_references. Where a channel is vague, it is vague in the source; kevmap does not tidy it.
| Log source | Channel | Data component |
|---|---|---|
| WinEventLog:Application | EventCode=1000 | DC0038 Application Log Content |
| WinEventLog:Sysmon | EventCode=11 | DC0039 File Creation |
| WinEventLog:Security | EventCode=4688 | DC0032 Process Creation |
| WinEventLog:Sysmon | EventCode=3, 22 | DC0082 Network Connection Creation |
Mutable elements
Parameters MITRE marks as environment-specific. These are the knobs you are expected to tune; they are why an analytic is not a rule.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
TimeWindow | Correlation window (e.g., 15 minutes) from document open to child/egress. |
HighRiskParents | Apps that should rarely spawn OS utilities (winword.exe, excel.exe, powerpnt.exe, acrord32.exe, chrome/msedge/firefox, 7zFM.exe, winrar.exe, explorer.exe). |
HighRiskChildren | LOLBIN list: powershell.exe, cmd.exe, wscript.exe, cscript.exe, mshta.exe, rundll32.exe, regsvr32.exe, msiexec.exe, curl.exe, bitsadmin.exe, pcalua.exe, expand.exe, tar.exe. |
UserPaths | Writable paths to watch: %USERPROFILE%\Downloads, %TEMP%, %APPDATA%\*, OneDrive/Teams cache, Office startup folders. |
EgressAllowList | Corporate update/CDN domains and proxy egress CIDRs to suppress benign updater traffic. |
KEV CVEs whose mapped technique this analytic detects
| CVE | Vendor / product | State |
|---|---|---|
| CVE-2023-38831 | RARLAB WinRAR | Mapped |
| CVE-2025-24993 | Microsoft Windows | Mapped |