Detect Time Based Checks in Elastic Security
Adversaries may employ various time-based methods to detect virtualization and analysis environments, particularly those that attempt to manipulate time mechanisms to simulate longer elapses of time. This includes using GetTickCount and GetSystemTimeAsFileTime to detect time acceleration in sandboxes, implementing long sleep delays (minutes to hours) to outlast sandbox analysis timeouts, checking system uptime to verify the machine has been running for a reasonable period, computing execution timing differences before and after sleep to detect sandbox time manipulation, and using API hammering (excessive printf or I/O calls) to delay execution. Notable examples include SUNBURST (2-week dormancy), Ursnif (30-minute delay), Bumblebee (hardcoded and randomized sleep intervals), and TrickBot (printf-based API hammering).
MITRE ATT&CK
- Tactic
- Defense Evasion Discovery
- Technique
- T1497 Virtualization/Sandbox Evasion
- Sub-technique
- T1497.003 Time Based Checks
- Canonical reference
- https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1497/003/
Elastic Detection Query
process where event.type == "start" and
(
process.command_line : ("*GetTickCount*", "*GetSystemTimeAsFileTime*", "*QueryPerformanceCounter*", "*NtQuerySystemTime*", "*timeGetTime*", "*GetSystemTime*") or
(
process.name : "timeout.exe" and
process.command_line regex~ "timeout\\s+/t\\s+[0-9]{3,}"
) or
(
process.name : "ping.exe" and
process.command_line regex~ "-n\\s+[0-9]{3,}\\s+127\\.0\\.0\\.1"
) or
(
process.command_line : ("*Start-Sleep*", "*WScript.Sleep*", "*Thread.Sleep*") and
not process.parent.name : ("svchost.exe", "explorer.exe", "taskhostw.exe")
) or
process.command_line : ("*lastbootuptime*", "*Boot Time*", "*net statistics*")
)Detects time-based sandbox evasion techniques (T1497.003) via Elastic ECS process events. Matches timing API references in command lines, long sleep delays using timeout.exe or ping.exe, scripting sleep functions, and system uptime enumeration commands. Uses wildcard and regex matching against process.command_line.
Data Sources
Required Tables
False Positives & Tuning
- Legitimate automation and CI/CD scripts using Start-Sleep for polling intervals between retries or service readiness checks
- System administrators running 'net statistics server' or querying lastbootuptime for uptime reporting and SLA verification
- Network engineers using high ping repeat counts (ping -n 500 127.0.0.1) as a delay mechanism during network configuration scripts
Other platforms for T1497.003
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 1Extended timeout delay for sandbox evasion
Expected signal: Sysmon Event ID 1: Process Create for timeout.exe with '/t 180' argument. The process will be visible in task list for the duration of the delay. Security Event ID 4688 with command line.
- Test 2Ping-based sleep for sandbox evasion
Expected signal: Sysmon Event ID 1: Process Create for ping.exe with '-n 300 127.0.0.1' arguments. Sysmon Event ID 3: Network Connection events to 127.0.0.1 (loopback).
- Test 3WMI uptime check for sandbox detection
Expected signal: Sysmon Event ID 1: Process Create for wmic.exe with 'os get lastbootuptime' arguments. WMI Operational log entry for Win32_OperatingSystem query.
References (6)
- https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1497/003/
- https://www.isaca.org/resources/isaca-journal/issues/2017/volume-6/evasive-malware-tricks-how-malware-evades-detection-by-sandboxes
- https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research/2020/12/evasive-attacker-leverages-solarwinds-supply-chain-compromises-with-sunburst-backdoor.html
- https://www.welivesecurity.com/2019/07/okrum-ke3chang-malware/
- https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/atoms/bendybear/
- https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/master/atomics/T1497.003/T1497.003.md
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