Detect Portable Executable Injection in Microsoft Sentinel
Adversaries may inject portable executables (PE) into processes in order to evade process-based defenses as well as possibly elevate privileges. PE injection is commonly performed by copying code (perhaps without a file on disk) into the virtual address space of the target process before invoking it via a new thread. The write can be performed with native Windows API calls such as VirtualAllocEx and WriteProcessMemory, then invoked with CreateRemoteThread or additional code (ex: shellcode). Unlike DLL injection, PE injection copies the entire executable image into the target process rather than loading a DLL via LoadLibrary. The displacement of the injected code introduces the additional requirement for functionality to remap memory references.
MITRE ATT&CK
- Technique
- T1055 Process Injection
- Sub-technique
- T1055.002 Portable Executable Injection
- Canonical reference
- https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1055/002/
KQL Detection Query
// Detect PE injection via cross-process memory allocation and thread creation
// Focus on processes that allocate RWX memory in remote processes
DeviceEvents
| where Timestamp > ago(24h)
| where ActionType == "CreateRemoteThreadApiCall"
| where InitiatingProcessFileName !in~ ("MsMpEng.exe", "csrss.exe", "services.exe", "svchost.exe", "lsass.exe", "wmiprvse.exe")
| join kind=leftouter (
DeviceImageLoadEvents
| where Timestamp > ago(24h)
| project LoadTime=Timestamp, DeviceName, ProcessId=InitiatingProcessId, LoadedModule=FileName
) on DeviceName, $left.ProcessId == $right.ProcessId
| where isempty(LoadedModule) or LoadedModule == ""
| extend InjectionType = "PE Injection (no DLL load - direct code injection)"
| project Timestamp, DeviceName, AccountName, InitiatingProcessFileName, InitiatingProcessCommandLine, FileName, ProcessCommandLine, InjectionType
| sort by Timestamp descDetects PE injection by identifying CreateRemoteThread events where the target process does NOT subsequently load a new DLL — indicating direct code injection rather than DLL-based injection. PE injection writes executable code directly into the target process memory and starts a thread to execute it, without triggering an ImageLoad event. This distinguishes PE injection from DLL injection.
Data Sources
Required Tables
False Positives & Tuning
- EDR agents performing shellcode-based process monitoring and hooking
- .NET CLR hosting injecting managed code into processes without DLL load events
- Game anti-cheat software (EasyAntiCheat, BattlEye) injecting protection code into game processes
- Software update agents injecting hotpatch code into running processes
Other platforms for T1055.002
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 1PE Injection via PowerShell with VirtualAllocEx and WriteProcessMemory
Expected signal: Sysmon Event ID 1: notepad.exe spawned by PowerShell. If full API chain used: Sysmon Event ID 10 (ProcessAccess) from PowerShell to notepad.exe with PROCESS_VM_WRITE rights. Sysmon Event ID 8 if CreateRemoteThread is called.
- Test 2Shellcode Injection via Donut Framework
Expected signal: When using the full Donut injection: Sysmon Event ID 8 (CreateRemoteThread) with empty StartModule. Sysmon Event ID 10 (ProcessAccess) with PROCESS_ALL_ACCESS. No corresponding Sysmon Event ID 7 (ImageLoad) in the target process.
- Test 3Process Injection using C# System.Diagnostics APIs
Expected signal: Sysmon Event ID 1: csc.exe spawned by PowerShell (compilation). Sysmon Event ID 11: pe_inject_test.exe created in TEMP. Sysmon Event ID 1: pe_inject_test.exe execution. Sysmon Event ID 1: notepad.exe spawned by pe_inject_test.exe.
References (5)
- https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1055/002/
- https://www.endgame.com/blog/technical-blog/ten-process-injection-techniques-technical-survey-common-and-trending-process
- https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/master/atomics/T1055.002/T1055.002.md
- https://github.com/TheWover/donut
- https://www.elastic.co/blog/ten-process-injection-techniques-technical-survey-common-and-trending-process
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