Sigma Rules
889 rules found for "persistence"
Cloudflared Tunnels Related DNS Requests
Detects DNS requests to Cloudflared tunnels domains. Attackers can abuse that feature to establish a reverse shell or persistence on a machine.
DNS Query To Devtunnels Domain
Detects DNS query requests to Devtunnels domains. Attackers can abuse that feature to establish a reverse shell or persistence on a machine.
DNS HybridConnectionManager Service Bus
Detects Azure Hybrid Connection Manager services querying the Azure service bus service
Suspicious DNS Query Indicating Kerberos Coercion via DNS Object SPN Spoofing
Detects DNS queries containing patterns associated with Kerberos coercion attacks via DNS object spoofing. The pattern "1UWhRCAAAAA..BAAAA" is a base64-encoded signature that corresponds to a marshaled CREDENTIAL_TARGET_INFORMATION structure. Attackers can use this technique to coerce authentication from victim systems to attacker-controlled hosts. It is one of the strong indicators of a Kerberos coercion attack, where adversaries manipulate DNS records to spoof Service Principal Names (SPNs) and redirect authentication requests like CVE-2025-33073.
DNS Query To Visual Studio Code Tunnels Domain
Detects DNS query requests to Visual Studio Code tunnel domains. Attackers can abuse that feature to establish a reverse shell or persistence on a machine.
Malicious Driver Load
Detects loading of known malicious drivers via their hash.
Malicious Driver Load By Name
Detects loading of known malicious drivers via the file name of the drivers.
PUA - Process Hacker Driver Load
Detects driver load of the Process Hacker tool
PUA - System Informer Driver Load
Detects driver load of the System Informer tool
Driver Load From A Temporary Directory
Detects a driver load from a temporary directory
Vulnerable Driver Load
Detects loading of known vulnerable drivers via their hash.
Vulnerable Driver Load By Name
Detects the load of known vulnerable drivers via the file name of the drivers.
Vulnerable HackSys Extreme Vulnerable Driver Load
Detects the load of HackSys Extreme Vulnerable Driver which is an intentionally vulnerable Windows driver developed for security enthusiasts to learn and polish their exploitation skills at Kernel level and often abused by threat actors
Vulnerable WinRing0 Driver Load
Detects the load of a signed WinRing0 driver often used by threat actors, crypto miners (XMRIG) or malware for privilege escalation
Unusual File Modification by dns.exe
Detects an unexpected file being modified by dns.exe which my indicate activity related to remote code execution or other forms of exploitation as seen in CVE-2020-1350 (SigRed)
Unusual File Deletion by Dns.exe
Detects an unexpected file being deleted by dns.exe which my indicate activity related to remote code execution or other forms of exploitation as seen in CVE-2020-1350 (SigRed)
Suspicious File Created by ArcSOC.exe
Detects instances where the ArcGIS Server process ArcSOC.exe, which hosts REST services running on an ArcGIS server, creates a file with suspicious file type, indicating that it may be an executable, script file, or otherwise unusual.
Creation Of Non-Existent System DLL
Detects creation of specific system DLL files that are usually not present on the system (or at least not in system directories) but may be loaded by legitimate processes. Phantom DLL hijacking involves placing malicious DLLs with names of non-existent system binaries in locations where legitimate applications may search for them, leading to execution of the malicious DLLs. Thus, the creation of such DLLs may indicate preparation for phantom DLL hijacking attacks.
New Custom Shim Database Created
Adversaries may establish persistence and/or elevate privileges by executing malicious content triggered by application shims. The Microsoft Windows Application Compatibility Infrastructure/Framework (Application Shim) was created to allow for backward compatibility of software as the operating system codebase changes over time.
Suspicious Screensaver Binary File Creation
Adversaries may establish persistence by executing malicious content triggered by user inactivity. Screensavers are programs that execute after a configurable time of user inactivity and consist of Portable Executable (PE) files with a .scr file extension
Creation Exe for Service with Unquoted Path
Adversaries may execute their own malicious payloads by hijacking vulnerable file path references. Adversaries can take advantage of paths that lack surrounding quotations by placing an executable in a higher level directory within the path, so that Windows will choose the adversary's executable to launch.
Desktop.INI Created by Uncommon Process
Detects unusual processes accessing desktop.ini, which can be leveraged to alter how Explorer displays a folder's content (i.e. renaming files) without changing them on disk.
DLL Search Order Hijackig Via Additional Space in Path
Detects when an attacker create a similar folder structure to windows system folders such as (Windows, Program Files...) but with a space in order to trick DLL load search order and perform a "DLL Search Order Hijacking" attack
Potential Persistence Attempt Via ErrorHandler.Cmd
Detects creation of a file named "ErrorHandler.cmd" in the "C:\WINDOWS\Setup\Scripts\" directory which could be used as a method of persistence The content of C:\WINDOWS\Setup\Scripts\ErrorHandler.cmd is read whenever some tools under C:\WINDOWS\System32\oobe\ (e.g. Setup.exe) fail to run for any reason.
Suspicious ASPX File Drop by Exchange
Detects suspicious file type dropped by an Exchange component in IIS into a suspicious folder
Suspicious File Drop by Exchange
Detects suspicious file type dropped by an Exchange component in IIS
HackTool - Mimikatz Kirbi File Creation
Detects the creation of files created by mimikatz such as ".kirbi", "mimilsa.log", etc.
HackTool - Powerup Write Hijack DLL
Powerup tool's Write Hijack DLL exploits DLL hijacking for privilege escalation. In it's default mode, it builds a self deleting .bat file which executes malicious command. The detection rule relies on creation of the malicious bat file (debug.bat by default).
Potential Initial Access via DLL Search Order Hijacking
Detects attempts to create a DLL file to a known desktop application dependencies folder such as Slack, Teams or OneDrive and by an unusual process. This may indicate an attempt to load a malicious module via DLL search order hijacking.
Malicious DLL File Dropped in the Teams or OneDrive Folder
Detects creation of a malicious DLL file in the location where the OneDrive or Team applications Upon execution of the Teams or OneDrive application, the dropped malicious DLL file ("iphlpapi.dll") is sideloaded
File Creation In Suspicious Directory By Msdt.EXE
Detects msdt.exe creating files in suspicious directories which could be a sign of exploitation of either Follina or Dogwalk vulnerabilities
Potential Persistence Via Notepad++ Plugins
Detects creation of new ".dll" files inside the plugins directory of a notepad++ installation by a process other than "gup.exe". Which could indicates possible persistence
Potential Persistence Via Microsoft Office Add-In
Detects potential persistence activity via startup add-ins that load when Microsoft Office starts (.wll/.xll are simply .dll fit for Word or Excel).
New Outlook Macro Created
Detects the creation of a macro file for Outlook.
Potential Persistence Via Outlook Form
Detects the creation of a new Outlook form which can contain malicious code
Suspicious Outlook Macro Created
Detects the creation of a macro file for Outlook.
Potential Persistence Via Microsoft Office Startup Folder
Detects creation of Microsoft Office files inside of one of the default startup folders in order to achieve persistence.
Potential Binary Or Script Dropper Via PowerShell
Detects PowerShell creating a binary executable or a script file.
PowerShell Script Dropped Via PowerShell.EXE
Detects PowerShell creating a PowerShell file (.ps1). While often times this behavior is benign, sometimes it can be a sign of a dropper script trying to achieve persistence.
PowerShell Module File Created
Detects the creation of a new PowerShell module ".psm1", ".psd1", ".dll", ".ps1", etc.
Potential Suspicious PowerShell Module File Created
Detects the creation of a new PowerShell module in the first folder of the module directory structure "\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\malware\malware.psm1". This is somewhat an uncommon practice as legitimate modules often includes a version folder.
PowerShell Module File Created By Non-PowerShell Process
Detects the creation of a new PowerShell module ".psm1", ".psd1", ".dll", ".ps1", etc. by a non-PowerShell process
Potential Startup Shortcut Persistence Via PowerShell.EXE
Detects PowerShell writing startup shortcuts. This procedure was highlighted in Red Canary Intel Insights Oct. 2021, "We frequently observe adversaries using PowerShell to write malicious .lnk files into the startup directory to establish persistence. Accordingly, this detection opportunity is likely to identify persistence mechanisms in multiple threats. In the context of Yellow Cockatoo, this persistence mechanism eventually launches the command-line script that leads to the installation of a malicious DLL"
Potential RipZip Attack on Startup Folder
Detects a phishing attack which expands a ZIP file containing a malicious shortcut. If the victim expands the ZIP file via the explorer process, then the explorer process expands the malicious ZIP file and drops a malicious shortcut redirected to a backdoor into the Startup folder. Additionally, the file name of the malicious shortcut in Startup folder contains {0AFACED1-E828-11D1-9187-B532F1E9575D} meaning the folder shortcut operation.
Startup Folder File Write
A General detection for files being created in the Windows startup directory. This could be an indicator of persistence.
Suspicious MSExchangeMailboxReplication ASPX Write
Detects suspicious activity in which the MSExchangeMailboxReplication process writes .asp and .apsx files to disk, which could be a sign of ProxyShell exploitation
Suspicious File Write to Webapps Root Directory
Detects suspicious file writes to the root directory of web applications, particularly Apache web servers or Tomcat servers. This may indicate an attempt to deploy malicious files such as web shells or other unauthorized scripts.
Suspicious File Write to SharePoint Layouts Directory
Detects suspicious file writes to SharePoint layouts directory which could indicate webshell activity or post-exploitation. This behavior has been observed in the exploitation of SharePoint vulnerabilities such as CVE-2025-49704, CVE-2025-49706 or CVE-2025-53770.