Zeek DCE-RPC spoolss and IRemoteWinspool Calls Indicating Windows Print-Related Persistence

Alerts on specific Zeek DCE-RPC endpoint/operation combinations linked to Windows persistence techniques.

FreeReviewedSigma · Medium · v2
Product
zeek
Service
dce_rpc
Author
@neu5ron, SOC Prime (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2020-03-19
Updated
2026-07-31
title: Zeek DCE-RPC spoolss and IRemoteWinspool Calls Indicating Windows Print-Related Persistence
id: 6fe619d6-a0a4-4b76-91da-7f2a86890669
status: test
description: This rule matches Zeek DCE-RPC requests where specific endpoints and operations are used that align with Windows persistence techniques. Attackers can abuse these remote procedure calls to register or add print or monitor components and trigger persistence on the affected system. The detection relies on Zeek DCE-RPC telemetry that reports the RPC endpoint and operation names for remote calls.
references:
  - https://github.com/mitre-attack/bzar#indicators-for-attck-persistence
  - https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/network/zeek/zeek_dce_rpc_mitre_bzar_persistence.yml
author: "@neu5ron, SOC Prime, Huntrule Team"
date: 2020-03-19
modified: 2021-11-27
tags:
  - attack.privilege-escalation
  - attack.persistence
  - attack.t1547.004
logsource:
  product: zeek
  service: dce_rpc
detection:
  op1:
    endpoint: spoolss
    operation: RpcAddMonitor
  op2:
    endpoint: spoolss
    operation: RpcAddPrintProcessor
  op3:
    endpoint: IRemoteWinspool
    operation: RpcAsyncAddMonitor
  op4:
    endpoint: IRemoteWinspool
    operation: RpcAsyncAddPrintProcessor
  op5:
    endpoint: ISecLogon
    operation: SeclCreateProcessWithLogonW
  op6:
    endpoint: ISecLogon
    operation: SeclCreateProcessWithLogonExW
  condition: 1 of op*
falsepositives:
  - Windows administrator tasks or troubleshooting
  - Windows management scripts or software
level: medium
license: DRL-1.1
related:
  - id: 53389db6-ba46-48e3-a94c-e0f2cefe1583
    type: derived