WindowsT1003.003 T1202

>Diskshadow.exe

Diskshadow.exe is a tool that exposes the functionality offered by the volume shadow copy Service (VSS).

Default Executable Paths

C:\Windows\System32\diskshadow.exe

C:\Windows\SysWOW64\diskshadow.exe

Integrity & Metadata

Category Count: 2 weaponized patterns

Forensics & Triage Insight

Documented in LOLBAS project by Oddvar Moe.

Detection Engineering Notes

Monitor process creation events where FileName is "Diskshadow.exe" or command line references known attack arguments.

Executive Summary & AI Quick Reference

High-Fidelity Telemetry Profile

Diskshadow.exe is a native utility pre-installed on Windows systems. Threat actors and red teams abuse Diskshadow.exe as a Living-off-the-Land Binary (LOLBin) to achieve Credential Dump, Execute without triggering traditional antivirus file-hash alerts. Legitimate system administrators use it for routine administration, making behavioral command-line telemetry essential for differentiation.

Primary Abused Tactics

Credential Dump, Execute

Minimum Privilege

User

Key Telemetry Source

Sysmon 1 / 4688

ATT&CK Mapping

T1003.003, T1202

Weaponized Parameters & Proof-of-Concepts

Documented attack commands, parameter flags, and privilege prerequisites.

2 documented methods

Filter Purpose:

Credential DumpPrivileges: User

T1003.003: Technique T1003.003

Execute commands using diskshadow.exe from a prepared diskshadow script.

diskshadow.exe /s {PATH:.txt}

ExecutePrivileges: User

T1202: Technique T1202

Execute commands using diskshadow.exe to spawn child process

diskshadow> exec {PATH:.exe}

SIEM & EDR Detection Rules

Production telemetry rules configured for Microsoft Defender, Sigma, and Splunk.

Telemetry & SIEM Detection Suite (Diskshadow.exe)

Validated against MITRE T1003.003, T1202

Diskshadow.exe Microsoft Defender Querykql

1// Microsoft Defender XDR / Microsoft Sentinel
2// Tactic: Credential Dump
3DeviceProcessEvents
4| where FileName =~ "Diskshadow.exe"
5| where ProcessCommandLine has_any ("Diskshadow")
6| project
7    Timestamp,
8    DeviceName,
9    AccountName,
10    InitiatingProcessParentFileName,
11    InitiatingProcessFileName,
12    InitiatingProcessCommandLine,
13    FileName,
14    FolderPath,
15    ProcessCommandLine,
16    MD5,
17    SHA256
18| sort by Timestamp desc

Mitigation, Hardening & Prevention

Recommended defensive controls to block or constrain Diskshadow.exe abuse.

Application Whitelisting

Enforce Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC) or AppLocker publisher rules to prevent execution outside approved enterprise administration scripts.

Attack Surface Reduction

Enable ASR rules: Block executable content from email client and webmail and Block Office applications from creating child processes spawning Diskshadow.exe.

Behavioral Alerting

Deploy the KQL, Sigma, and Splunk detection queries below. Alert on anomalous child processes, web requests to unrated external IPs, or encoded payload strings.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) • Diskshadow.exe

Key operational questions and defensive answers about Diskshadow.exe LOLBin tradecraft.

What is Diskshadow.exe and why is it classified as a LOLBin?

Diskshadow.exe is a legitimate, pre-installed or trusted utility on Windows. It is classified as a Living-off-the-Land Binary (LOLBin) because adversaries abuse its built-in functionality to perform malicious operations—such as Credential Dump, Execute—without dropping custom malware binaries on disk.

How do threat actors abuse Diskshadow.exe in cyber intrusions?

Adversaries leverage Diskshadow.exe to execute stealthy actions while evading signature-based security controls. For example, attackers execute commands like "diskshadow.exe /s {PATH:.txt}" to achieve Credential Dump, Execute, masquerading behind legitimate system process lineage.

How can SOC analysts detect suspicious Diskshadow.exe activity?

Detection engineers monitor process creation events (Windows Event ID 4688 or Sysmon Event ID 1; Linux auditd EXECVE; macOS Endpoint Security) inspecting anomalous command line arguments, unusual parent-child process relationships (e.g. Office apps or web servers spawning Diskshadow.exe), and unexpected network connections.

What MITRE ATT&CK techniques does Diskshadow.exe map to?

Diskshadow.exe maps to MITRE ATT&CK technique(s): T1003.003, T1202. These techniques cover adversary actions across tactics such as Defense Evasion, Execution, Persistence, and Command and Control.

How can organizations mitigate and restrict Diskshadow.exe?

Mitigation strategies include implementing Application Control policies (AppLocker or Windows Defender Application Control - WDAC), enforcing Attack Surface Reduction (ASR) rules, configuring strict privilege separation (disallowing standard users from running sensitive switches), and alerting on execution from non-standard directories.

Curated & Verified by

Sharon Ben Moshe

Cybersecurity Researcher & Detection Engineer • Check Point

LinkedIn Profile Methodology & Papers

Other High-Traffic WINDOWS LOLBins

certutil.exe

Certutil.exe is a command-line program installed as part of Certificate Services. Attackers frequently abuse it to download arbitrary files from remote URLs, encode/decode Base64 payloads to evade detection, and hash files.

View profile

mshta.exe

Microsoft HTML Application (MSHTA) host executes .hta files and scripts embedded inside web pages. Attackers abuse mshta to execute malicious inline VBScript or JScript directly from the command line or remote HTTP servers.

View profile

rundll32.exe

The Rundll32 program loads and runs 32-bit and 64-bit Dynamic Link Libraries (DLLs). Threat actors use it to execute exported functions from arbitrary DLLs, run scriptlets, or execute code via MSHTML protocol handlers.

View profile

bitsadmin.exe

Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) administrator tool manages asynchronous, throttled background transfers. Attackers use BITS to stage remote downloads that survive reboots and evade conventional network monitoring.

View profile