Detect Microsoft Office PowerPoint Code Injection (CVE-2009-0556) in Elastic Security
Detects exploitation attempts of CVE-2009-0556, a code injection vulnerability in Microsoft Office PowerPoint. Attackers can exploit this vulnerability via crafted PowerPoint files to execute arbitrary code in the context of the logged-in user. This CVE is listed in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.
MITRE ATT&CK
- Tactic
- Initial Access Execution
Elastic Detection Query
sequence by host.name with maxspan=2m
[process where event.type == "start" and process.name : "POWERPNT.EXE"]
[process where event.type == "start"
and process.parent.name : "POWERPNT.EXE"
and process.name : ("cmd.exe", "powershell.exe", "wscript.exe", "cscript.exe", "mshta.exe", "rundll32.exe", "regsvr32.exe")]
| head 100Correlates PowerPoint launch followed by spawning of known shell/scripting interpreters within a 2-minute window, indicative of CVE-2009-0556 code injection.
Data Sources
Required Tables
False Positives & Tuning
- Business automation macros within PowerPoint legitimately launching scripts
- IT management tooling that uses COM automation from Office applications
- Developer environments where Office automation scripts are routinely executed
Other platforms for CVE-2009-0556
Testing Methodology
Validate this detection against 3 adversary techniques from Atomic Red Team. Each test below lists the behaviour to exercise and the telemetry you should expect to see. Executable commands and cleanup steps are available with Pro.
- Test 1PowerPoint Spawning cmd.exe (Simulated CVE-2009-0556 Payload Execution)
Expected signal: Process creation event: parent=POWERPNT.EXE, child=cmd.exe with arguments '/c whoami'
- Test 2PowerPoint Spawning PowerShell with Encoded Command
Expected signal: Sysmon Event ID 1: Image=powershell.exe, ParentImage=powerpnt.exe, CommandLine contains -EncodedCommand
- Test 3Crafted PPT File Drop to Temp Directory
Expected signal: File creation event: FileName=exploit_test.ppt, FolderPath contains \Temp\
Unlock Pro Content
Get the full detection package for CVE-2009-0556 including response playbook, investigation guide, and atomic red team tests.