detecting-process-hollowing-technique

name	detecting-process-hollowing-technique
description	Detect process hollowing (T1055.012) by analyzing memory-mapped sections, hollowed process indicators, and parent-child process anomalies in EDR telemetry. Use when detecting process hollowing (t1055.012) by analyzing memory-mapped sections, hollowed process.
domain	cybersecurity
tags	["threat-hunting","mitre-attack","process-hollowing","process-injection","edr","t1055","proactive-detection"]
subdomain	threat-hunting
version	1.0
author	oyi77
license	Apache-2.0
d3fend_techniques	["Platform Monitoring","Process Code Segment Verification","Segment Address Offset Randomization","Process Analysis","Application Hardening"]
nist_csf	["DE.CM-01","DE.AE-02","DE.AE-07","ID.RA-05"]

Detecting Process Hollowing Technique

Overview

Cybersecurity skill for detecting process hollowing technique. Follows industry best practices and security standards.

When to Use

Trigger phrases:

• "detecting process hollowing technique"

• "Detect process hollowing (T1055"

• When investigating suspected fileless malware or in-memory threats

• After EDR alerts on process injection or suspicious memory operations

• When hunting for defense evasion techniques in a compromised environment

• When threat intel reports indicate process hollowing in active campaigns

• During purple team exercises validating T1055.012 detection coverage

When NOT to Use

• When you lack proper authorization for testing
• For production systems without change management
• When the task requires legal or compliance expertise beyond technical scope

Prerequisites

• EDR with memory protection monitoring (CrowdStrike, MDE, SentinelOne)
• Sysmon with Event IDs 1 (Process Create), 8 (CreateRemoteThread), 25 (ProcessTampering)
• Windows ETW providers for process hollowing (Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-Process)
• Memory forensics capabilities (Volatility, WinDbg)
• Process integrity monitoring tools

Workflow

# Example: IOC detection
import re

IOC_PATTERNS = {
    "ip": r"\b(?:\d{1,3}\.){3}\d{1,3}\b",
    "domain": r"\b[a-z0-9-]+\.[a-z]{2,}\b",
    "hash_md5": r"\b[a-f0-9]{32}\b",
    "hash_sha256": r"\b[a-f0-9]{64}\b",
}

def extract_iocs(text: str) -> dict:
    return {k: re.findall(v, text) for k, v in IOC_PATTERNS.items()}

1. Define Detection Scope — Identify the specific process hollowing technique techniques or indicators to hunt. Map to MITRE ATT&CK tactics/techniques where applicable.