Potential Excel.EXE DCOM Lateral Movement Via ActivateMicrosoftApp

Detects suspicious child processes of Excel which could be an indicator of lateral movement leveraging the "ActivateMicrosoftApp" Excel DCOM object.

Detection logic

Platform: Windows
The rule states no platform. This is derived from the ATT&CK technique it maps to.
Log source product: windows
Log source category: process_creation

Links the source published beside this detection. Reference is the link the source wrote, unmodified. Class is decided by this catalogue from the host and path, not stated by the source. Cited by counts published detections citing the same resource, including this one, and the sources beneath it count the repositories this catalogue ingests, which is not the same as independent research.
Reference	Class	Cited by
github.com/grayhatkiller/SharpExShell	Tool	Only this detection cites it
learn.microsoft.com/en-us/office/vba/api/excel.xlmsapplication	Product documentation	Only this detection cites it
posts.specterops.io/lateral-movement-abuse-the-power-of-dcom-excel-application-3c016d0d9922	Security research	Only this detection cites it