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MediumSplunk security contentOnur Mustafa Erdogan +1

Windows Wermgr Spawning System Integrity Process

The following analytic detects WerMgr.exe (Windows Error Reporting) spawning a child process running at SYSTEM integrity level. WerMgr.exe normally runs at the integrity level of the reporting user or as a background…

Description

The following analytic detects WerMgr.exe (Windows Error Reporting) spawning a child process running at SYSTEM integrity level. WerMgr.exe normally runs at the integrity level of the reporting user or as a background SYSTEM-owned service that does not launch interactive children. In the ShieldBreak exploit, WerMgr.exe is manually triggered via the QueueReporting scheduled task and loads an attacker-planted phantom DLL (phoneinfo.dll), which then spawns an elevated shell. If confirmed malicious, this activity indicates successful local privilege escalation to SYSTEM.

Detection logic

Detection requirements

Platform
ContainersLinuxmacOSWindows

The rule states no platform. This is derived from the 2 ATT&CK techniques it maps to.

Log source category
crowdstrike_processrollup2sysmon_eventid_1windows_event_log_security_4688

Known benign triggers

  • No false positives have been identified at this time. WerMgr.exe spawning a SYSTEM-integrity child process is not expected under normal Windows Error Reporting operation.

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