{"id":"fff9d2b7-e11c-4a69-93d3-40ef66189767","title":"Suspicious Copy From or To System Directory","description":"Detects a suspicious copy operation that tries to copy a program from system (System32, SysWOW64, WinSxS) directories to another on disk.\nOften used to move LOLBINs such as 'certutil' or 'desktopimgdownldr' to a different location with a different name in order to bypass detections based on locations.\n","author":"Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), Markus Neis, Tim Shelton (HAWK.IO), Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)","status":"test","level":"medium","date":"2020-07-03","modified":"2026-03-16","tags":["attack.stealth","attack.t1036.003"],"technique_ids":["T1036.003"],"logsource":{"category":"process_creation","product":"windows"},"falsepositives":["Depend on scripts and administrative tools used in the monitored environment (For example an admin scripts like https://www.itexperience.net/sccm-batch-files-and-32-bits-processes-on-64-bits-os/)","When cmd.exe and xcopy.exe are called directly","When the command contains the keywords but not in the correct order"],"references":["https://www.hybrid-analysis.com/sample/8da5b75b6380a41eee3a399c43dfe0d99eeefaa1fd21027a07b1ecaa4cd96fdd?environmentId=120","https://web.archive.org/web/20180331144337/https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research/2018/03/sanny-malware-delivery-method-updated-in-recently-observed-attacks.html","https://thedfirreport.com/2023/08/28/html-smuggling-leads-to-domain-wide-ransomware/"],"source_path":"rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_susp_copy_system_dir.yml","source_sha256":"4af136c4a2608f78c332825ac94f4d7241eeba239a772a48af521b1b5fc7b2f0","source_url":"https://github.com/anpa1200/sigma/blob/b249e9683190cffdcaf188ccbfb90bf4759844e1/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_susp_copy_system_dir.yml","license":"Detection Rule License 1.1","license_url":"https://github.com/SigmaHQ/Detection-Rule-License/blob/main/LICENSE.Detection.Rules.md","yaml":"title: Suspicious Copy From or To System Directory\nid: fff9d2b7-e11c-4a69-93d3-40ef66189767\nrelated:\n    - id: 855bc8b5-2ae8-402e-a9ed-b889e6df1900\n      type: derived\nstatus: test\ndescription: |\n    Detects a suspicious copy operation that tries to copy a program from system (System32, SysWOW64, WinSxS) directories to another on disk.\n    Often used to move LOLBINs such as 'certutil' or 'desktopimgdownldr' to a different location with a different name in order to bypass detections based on locations.\nreferences:\n    - https://www.hybrid-analysis.com/sample/8da5b75b6380a41eee3a399c43dfe0d99eeefaa1fd21027a07b1ecaa4cd96fdd?environmentId=120\n    - https://web.archive.org/web/20180331144337/https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research/2018/03/sanny-malware-delivery-method-updated-in-recently-observed-attacks.html\n    - https://thedfirreport.com/2023/08/28/html-smuggling-leads-to-domain-wide-ransomware/\nauthor: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), Markus Neis, Tim Shelton (HAWK.IO), Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)\ndate: 2020-07-03\nmodified: 2026-03-16\ntags:\n    - attack.stealth\n    - attack.t1036.003\nlogsource:\n    category: process_creation\n    product: windows\ndetection:\n    selection_img_cmd:\n        Image|endswith: '\\cmd.exe'\n        CommandLine|contains: 'copy '\n    selection_img_pwsh:\n        Image|endswith:\n            - '\\powershell.exe'\n            - '\\pwsh.exe'\n        CommandLine|contains:\n            - 'copy-item'\n            - ' copy '\n            - 'cpi '\n            - ' cp '\n    selection_img_other:\n        - Image|endswith:\n              - '\\robocopy.exe'\n              - '\\xcopy.exe'\n        - OriginalFileName:\n              - 'robocopy.exe'\n              - 'XCOPY.EXE'\n    selection_target:\n        CommandLine|re|i: \\s['\"]?C:\\\\Windows\\\\(?:System32|SysWOW64|WinSxS)\n    filter_optional_avira:\n        Image|endswith: '\\cmd.exe'\n        CommandLine|contains|all:\n            - '/c copy'\n            - '\\Temp\\'\n            - '\\avira_system_speedup.exe'\n        CommandLine|contains:\n            - 'C:\\Program Files\\Avira\\'\n            - 'C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Avira\\'\n    condition: 1 of selection_img_* and selection_target and not 1 of filter_optional_*\nfalsepositives:\n    - Depend on scripts and administrative tools used in the monitored environment (For example an admin scripts like https://www.itexperience.net/sccm-batch-files-and-32-bits-processes-on-64-bits-os/)\n    - When cmd.exe and xcopy.exe are called directly #  C:\\Windows\\System32\\cmd.exe /c copy file1 file2\n    - When the command contains the keywords but not in the correct order\nlevel: medium\n","validation":"yaml_parsed_not_backend_compiled_or_live_validated","techniques":[{"key":"enterprise/T1036.003","id":"T1036.003","name":"Rename Legitimate Utilities","page":"techniques/enterprise/T1036.003/"}],"data_path":"data/detection-rules/fff9d2b7-e11c-4a69-93d3-40ef66189767.json","kind":"sigma"}