Hunting For Process Injection Techniques

---
name: hunting-for-process-injection-techniques
description: Use when detect process injection techniques (T1055) including CreateRemoteThread,
  process hollowing, and DLL injection via Sysmon Event IDs 8 and 10 and EDR process
  telemetry. Use when detecting process injection techniques (t1055) including createremotethread,
  process hollowing, and.
domain: cybersecurity
subdomain: threat-hunting
tags:
- process-injection
- t1055
- sysmon
- createremotethread
- dll-injection
- edr
- threat-hunting
version: '1.0'
author: oyi77
license: Apache-2.0
d3fend_techniques:
- Executable Denylisting
- Execution Isolation
- File Metadata Consistency Validation
- Content Format Conversion
- File Content Analysis
nist_csf:
- DE.CM-01
- DE.AE-02
- DE.AE-07
- ID.RA-05
category: cybersecurity
---


# Hunting for Process Injection Techniques

## Overview

Process injection (MITRE ATT&CK T1055) allows adversaries to execute code in the address space of another process, enabling defense evasion and privilege escalation. This skill detects injection techniques via Sysmon Event ID 8 (CreateRemoteThread), Event ID 10 (ProcessAccess with suspicious access rights), and analysis of source-target process relationships to distinguish legitimate from malicious injection.


## When to Use
**Trigger phrases:**
- "hunting for process injection techniques"
- "Detect process injection techniques (T1055) including CreateRemoteThread, proces"


- When investigating security incidents that require hunting for process injection techniques
- When building detection rules or threat hunting queries for this domain
- When SOC analysts need structured procedures for this analysis type
- When validating security monitoring coverage for related attack techniques


## When NOT to Use

- When you lack proper authorization for testing
- For production systems without change management
- When the task requires legal or compliance expertise beyond technical scope


## Prerequisites

- Sysmon installed with Event IDs 8 and 10 enabled
- Process creation logs (Sysmon Event ID 1 or Windows 4688)
- Python 3.8+ with standard library
- JSON-formatted Sysmon event logs

## Steps

```python
# Example: IOC detection
import re

IOC_PATTERNS = {
    "ip": r"\b(?:\d{1,3}\.){3}\d{1,3}\b",
    "domain": r"\b[a-z0-9-]+\.[a-z]{2,}\b",
    "hash_md5": r"\b[a-f0-9]{32}\b",
    "hash_sha256": r"\b[a-f0-9]{64}\b",
}

def extract_iocs(text: str) -> dict:
    return {k: re.findall(v, text) for k, v in IOC_PATTERNS.items()}
```

1. **Parse Sysmon Events** — Ingest Event IDs 1, 8, and 10 from JSON log files
2. **Detect CreateRemoteThread** — Flag Event ID 8 with suspicious source-target process pairs
3. **Analyze ProcessAccess Rights** — Identify Event ID 10 with dangerous access masks (PROCESS_VM_WRITE, PROCESS_CREATE_THREAD)
4. **Build Process Relationship Graph** — Map source-to-target injection relationships
5. **Filter Known Legitimate Pairs** — Exclude known benign injection patterns (AV, debuggers, system processes)
6. **Score Injection Severity** — Apply risk scoring based on source process, target process, and access rights
7. **Generate Hunt Report** — Produce structured report with MITRE sub-technique mapping

## Expected Output

- JSON report of detected injection events with severity scores
- Process injection relationship graph
- MITRE ATT&CK sub-technique mapping (T1055.001-T1055.012)
- False positive exclusion recommendations
## Red Flags

- Performing actions without explicit written authorization from the asset owner
- Testing against production systems without a defined scope and rules of engagement
- Testing without rate limiting, potentially causing service degradation
- Storing sensitive test data (credentials, tokens) in plain text logs
- Using automated scanners blindly without reviewing results for false positives

## Process

1. **Reconnaissance** — Gather target information, identify attack surface, enumerate services
1. **Analysis/Exploitation** — Execute the technique, analyze results, document findings
1. **Reporting** — Document IOCs, write findings, provide remediation recommendations

## Verification

- All steps executed successfully against a test environment before production use
- Output documented with screenshots or logs demonstrating expected behavior
- Vulnerabilities reproduced with proof-of-concept and impact analysis
- False positives filtered out through manual verification
- Fix recommendations include code-level remediation guidance

## Anti-Rationalization Table

| Rationalization | Reality |
|---|---|
| "We are too small to be targeted" | Automated attacks target everyone. Size does not matter. |
| "Security slows us down" | A breach slows you down 100x more. Build security in from the start. |
| "We will fix it after launch" | Vulnerabilities in production are exploited within hours. Fix before deploy. |