Detect Compromise Hardware Supply Chain in Elastic Security
Adversaries may manipulate hardware components in products prior to receipt by a final consumer for the purpose of data or system compromise. By modifying hardware or firmware in the supply chain, adversaries can insert a backdoor into consumer networks that may be difficult to detect and give the adversary a high degree of control over the system. Hardware backdoors may be inserted into various devices such as servers, workstations, network infrastructure, or peripherals. Real-world examples include UEFI firmware implants (LoJax, CosmicStrand, BlackLotus), compromised network interface card firmware (Equation Group capabilities), and server baseboard management controller (BMC) implants. Detection is inherently constrained because the compromise predates the device's arrival, often manifesting as unexpected kernel-mode drivers, firmware modification activity, anomalous out-of-band management traffic, or covert network channels established through compromised NIC or BMC firmware. Defenders should focus on firmware integrity monitoring, hardware inventory baselining, driver signing verification, and anomalous network activity from system-level processes.
MITRE ATT&CK
- Tactic
- Initial Access
- Technique
- T1195 Supply Chain Compromise
- Sub-technique
- T1195.003 Compromise Hardware Supply Chain
- Canonical reference
- https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1195/003/
Elastic Detection Query
any where (
(
event.code == "6" and
winlog.event_data.Signed == "false" and
winlog.event_data.ImageLoaded : ("*\\Temp\\*", "*\\AppData\\*", "*\\ProgramData\\*", "*\\Users\\Public\\*", "*\\Windows\\Temp\\*")
) or
(
event.code == "6" and
winlog.event_data.ImageLoaded : ("*\\Temp\\*", "*\\AppData\\*", "*\\ProgramData\\*", "*\\Users\\Public\\*", "*\\Windows\\Temp\\*") and
not winlog.event_data.Signed : ("true", "1")
) or
(
event.code == "1" and
process.name : ("afuwin.exe", "afuwin64.exe", "afudos.exe", "fpt.exe", "fptw64.exe", "h2offt.exe", "h2offt-wx64.exe", "h2offt-wx86.exe", "flashrom.exe", "winphlash.exe", "phlash16.exe", "meinfo.exe", "meinfowin.exe", "meinfowin64.exe", "fwupdmgr.exe", "chipsec_main.exe") and
not process.parent.name : ("msiexec.exe", "setup.exe", "install.exe", "Update.exe", "DellUpdate.exe", "HPFirmwareUpdRec.exe")
) or
(
event.code == "7045" and
winlog.event_data.ServiceType : ("*kernel mode driver*", "*file system driver*") and
winlog.event_data.ImagePath : ("*\\Temp\\*", "*\\AppData\\*", "*\\ProgramData\\*", "*\\Windows\\Temp\\*")
)
) Detects T1195.003 hardware supply chain compromise OS-observable artifacts via four branches: unsigned kernel drivers loaded from non-standard writable paths (Sysmon Event 6), firmware flash utility execution not initiated by known vendor update processes (Sysmon Event 1), and kernel driver service installation from suspicious paths (Windows Event 7045). Ingested via Winlogbeat from Sysmon and Windows System logs.
Data Sources
Required Tables
False Positives & Tuning
- Legitimate OEM firmware updates (Dell BIOSConnect, HP Firmware Update Recovery, Lenovo Vantage) that stage flash utilities in Temp or AppData before execution during scheduled update cycles
- Enterprise driver deployment via SCCM or Intune that temporarily extracts unsigned vendor drivers to ProgramData or Windows\Temp staging directories before DeviceInstaller signs and moves them
- Authorized hardware security tooling (chipsec, flashrom, fwupdmgr) executed by platform security engineers or red team operators on isolated lab endpoints
Other platforms for T1195.003
Testing Methodology
Validate this detection against 5 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 1Firmware Inventory Tool Execution (Read-Only Audit)
Expected signal: Sysmon Event ID 1: Process Create with Image=powershell.exe, CommandLine containing 'Win32_BIOS' and 'Win32_BaseBoard'. Security Event ID 4688 (if command line auditing enabled). Note: WMI queries also generate Event ID 4688 for wmiprvse.exe child processes.
- Test 2Simulate Firmware Flash Tool Execution From Temp Directory
Expected signal: Sysmon Event ID 1: Process Create with Image=C:\Windows\Temp\AFUWINx64.EXE. Security Event ID 4688 with NewProcessName=C:\Windows\Temp\AFUWINx64.EXE. The OriginalFileName in PE headers will show cmd.exe (indicating the binary was renamed), which is an additional forensic signal.
- Test 3Inject Rogue PCI Device Registry Key
Expected signal: Sysmon Event ID 12 (Registry Key Create): TargetObject=HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\PCI\VEN_DEAD&DEV_BEEF&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_00, Image=powershell.exe. Sysmon Event ID 13 (Registry Value Set): TargetObject containing DeviceDesc. DeviceRegistryEvents in MDE will record ActionType=RegistryKeyCreated with InitiatingProcessFileName=powershell.exe.
- Test 4Install Kernel Driver Service From Temp Path
Expected signal: Windows System Event ID 7045 (New Service Installed): ServiceName=HWImplantTestDrv, ServiceType=kernel mode driver, StartType=demand start, ImagePath=C:\Windows\Temp\hw_implant_test.sys. Security Event ID 4697 (A service was installed in the system). The ImagePath pointing to \Windows\Temp\ is the primary anomaly indicator.
- Test 5Simulate BMC/IPMI Network Reconnaissance From Management Interface
Expected signal: Sysmon Event ID 1: Process Create with Image=curl.exe, User=SYSTEM (or NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM). Sysmon Event ID 3: Network Connection attempted from curl.exe running as SYSTEM to 127.0.0.1:9876. DeviceNetworkEvents in MDE: InitiatingProcessAccountName=SYSTEM, RemotePort=9876.
References (10)
- https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1195/003/
- https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1195/
- https://www.welivesecurity.com/2018/09/27/lojax-first-uefi-rootkit-found-wild-courtesy-sednit-group/
- https://www.kaspersky.com/blog/cosmicstrand-uefi-rootkit/45292/
- https://www.binarly.io/posts/Black_Lotus_Unlocking_UEFI_Secure_Boot_Bypass/index.html
- https://github.com/chipsec/chipsec
- https://uefi.org/sites/default/files/resources/UEFI_Spec_2_9_2021_03_18.pdf
- https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/master/atomics/T1195.003/T1195.003.md
- https://eclypsium.com/blog/supply-chain-security-hardware-firmware/
- https://www.nsa.gov/portals/75/documents/what-we-do/cybersecurity/professional-resources/csi-defending-against-hardware-supply-chain-threats.pdf
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