ManageEngine Endpoint Central Dctask64.EXE Potential Abuse

Hunt Hypothesis

Detects the execution of “dctask64.exe”, a signed binary by ZOHO Corporation part of ManageEngine Endpoint Central. This binary can be abused for DLL injection, arbitrary command and process execution

Detection Rule

Sigma (Original)

title: ManageEngine Endpoint Central Dctask64.EXE Potential Abuse
id: 6345b048-8441-43a7-9bed-541133633d7a
status: test
description: |
    Detects the execution of "dctask64.exe", a signed binary by ZOHO Corporation part of ManageEngine Endpoint Central.
    This binary can be abused for DLL injection, arbitrary command and process execution.
references:
    - https://twitter.com/gN3mes1s/status/1222088214581825540
    - https://twitter.com/gN3mes1s/status/1222095963789111296
    - https://twitter.com/gN3mes1s/status/1222095371175911424
author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
date: 2020-01-28
modified: 2025-01-22
tags:
    - attack.privilege-escalation
    - attack.stealth
    - attack.t1055.001
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection_img:
        - Image|endswith: '\dctask64.exe'
        - Hashes|contains:
              - 'IMPHASH=6834B1B94E49701D77CCB3C0895E1AFD'
              - 'IMPHASH=1BB6F93B129F398C7C4A76BB97450BBA'
              - 'IMPHASH=FAA2AC19875FADE461C8D89DCF2710A3'
              - 'IMPHASH=F1039CED4B91572AB7847D26032E6BBF'
    selection_cli:
        CommandLine|contains:
            - ' executecmd64 '
            - ' invokeexe '
            - ' injectDll '
    condition: all of selection_*
falsepositives:
    - Unknown
level: high

KQL (Azure Sentinel)

imProcessCreate
| where (TargetProcessName endswith "\\dctask64.exe" or (TargetProcessIMPHASH startswith "6834B1B94E49701D77CCB3C0895E1AFD" or TargetProcessIMPHASH startswith "1BB6F93B129F398C7C4A76BB97450BBA" or TargetProcessIMPHASH startswith "FAA2AC19875FADE461C8D89DCF2710A3" or TargetProcessIMPHASH startswith "F1039CED4B91572AB7847D26032E6BBF")) and (TargetProcessCommandLine contains " executecmd64 " or TargetProcessCommandLine contains " invokeexe " or TargetProcessCommandLine contains " injectDll ")

Required Data Sources

False Positive Guidance

• Unknown

MITRE ATT&CK Context

• Tactic: Privilege Escalation
• Technique: T1055.001 — T1055.001

References

• https://twitter.com/gN3mes1s/status/1222088214581825540
• https://twitter.com/gN3mes1s/status/1222095963789111296
• https://twitter.com/gN3mes1s/status/1222095371175911424
• SigmaHQ Rule