Adversaries may abuse Compiled HTML files (.chm) to conceal malicious code. CHM files are commonly distributed as part of the Microsoft HTML Help system. CHM files are compressed compilations of various content such as HTML documents, images, and scripting/web related programming languages such VBA, JScript, Java, and ActiveX. (Citation: Microsoft HTML Help May 2018) CHM content is displayed using underlying components of the Internet Explorer browser (Citation: Microsoft HTML Help ActiveX) loaded by the HTML Help executable program (hh.exe). (Citation: Microsoft HTML Help Executable Program)
A custom CHM file containing embedded payloads could be delivered to a victim then triggered by User Execution. CHM execution may also bypass application application control on older and/or unpatched systems that do not account for execution of binaries through hh.exe. (Citation: MsitPros CHM Aug 2017) (Citation: Microsoft CVE-2017-8625 Aug 2017)
Detection of Suspicious Compiled HTML File Execution via hh.exe
Restrict Web-Based Content: Restricting web-based content involves enforcing policies and technologies that limit access to potentially malicious websites, unsafe downloads, and unauthorized browser behaviors. This can include URL filtering, download restrictions, script blocking, and extension control to protect against exploitation, phishing, and malware delivery. This mitigation can be implemented through the following measures:
Deploy Web Proxy Filtering:
Enable DNS-Based Filtering:
Enforce Content Security Policies (CSP):
Control Browser Features:
Monitor and Alert on Web-Based Threats:
Execution Prevention: Prevent the execution of unauthorized or malicious code on systems by implementing application control, script blocking, and other execution prevention mechanisms. This ensures that only trusted and authorized code is executed, reducing the risk of malware and unauthorized actions. This mitigation can be implemented through the following measures:
Application Control:
New-AppLockerPolicy -PolicyType Enforced -FilePath "C:\Policies\AppLocker.xml")Script Blocking:
Set-ExecutionPolicy AllSigned)Executable Blocking:
%TEMP% or %APPDATA% directories..exe, .bat, or .ps1 files from user-writable directories.Dynamic Analysis Prevention: