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Newest: 1.3.3
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Active Rule
MSHTA Execution with Suspicious File Extensions
Target Profile
Splunk
Splunk through pysigma-backend-splunk.
Format Mode
Default
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Conversion Output
MSHTA Execution with Suspicious File Extensions
Using Splunk · Default · pySigma 1.3.3
Translation controls
Adjust the rule on the left, then regenerate when you want a fresh backend-native query.
BackendSplunkFormatDefaultVersion1.3.3
title: MSHTA Execution with Suspicious File Extensions
id: cc7abbd0-762b-41e3-8a26-57ad50d2eea3
status: test
description: |
Detects execution of mshta.exe with file types that looks like they do not typically represent HTA (HTML Application) content,
such as .png, .jpg, .zip, .pdf, and others, which are often polyglots. MSHTA is a legitimate Windows utility for executing HTML Applications
containing VBScript or JScript. Threat actors often abuse this lolbin utility to download and
execute malicious scripts disguised as benign files or hosted under misleading extensions to evade detection.
references:
- http://blog.sevagas.com/?Hacking-around-HTA-files
- https://0x00sec.org/t/clientside-exploitation-in-2018-how-pentesting-has-changed/7356
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/dotnet/framework/data/xml/xslt/xslt-stylesheet-scripting-using-msxsl-script
- https://medium.com/tsscyber/pentesting-and-hta-bypassing-powershell-constrained-language-mode-53a42856c997
- https://twitter.com/mattifestation/status/1326228491302563846
- https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/c1f27d9795a2eba630db8a043580a0761798f06370fb1317067805f8a845b00c
author: Diego Perez (@darkquassar), Markus Neis, Swisscom (Improve Rule), Swachchhanda Shrawan Poudel (Nextron Systems)
date: 2019-02-22
modified: 2025-05-12
tags:
- attack.defense-evasion
- attack.t1140
- attack.t1218.005
- attack.execution
- attack.t1059.007
- cve.2020-1599
logsource:
category: process_creation
product: windows
detection:
selection_img:
- Image|endswith: '\mshta.exe'
- OriginalFileName: 'mshta.exe'
selection_cli:
CommandLine|contains:
- '.7z'
- '.avi'
- '.bat'
- '.bmp'
- '.conf'
- '.csv'
- '.dll'
- '.doc'
- '.gif'
- '.gz'
- '.ini'
- '.jpe'
- '.jpg'
- '.json'
- '.lnk'
- '.log'
- '.mkv'
- '.mp3'
- '.mp4'
- '.pdf'
- '.png'
- '.ppt'
- '.rar'
- '.rtf'
- '.svg'
- '.tar'
- '.tmp'
- '.txt'
- '.xls'
- '.xml'
- '.yaml'
- '.yml'
- '.zip'
- 'vbscript'
# - '.chm' # could be prone to false positives
# - '.exe'
condition: all of selection_*
falsepositives:
- False positives depend on scripts and administrative tools used in the monitored environment
level: high
CLI command
Copy the exact command to reproduce this translation locally.
sigma convert --without-pipeline -t splunk -f default rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_mshta_susp_execution.yml