Renamed Plink Execution — Sigma Rule

Rule metadata and linked tags

Author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems). Source status: test; severity: high. Source dates: 2022-06-06 / 2023-02-03.

{
  "category": "process_creation",
  "product": "windows"
}

Pinned original Sigma rule · Detection Rule License 1.1

Source SHA-256: a20a612f0ddfa3c0d33e069bf835fdd1652e7f836c307f17ecf0e38d20c0bf58

Detection logic

Original source YAML. Source-tag agreement is not proof of complete semantic coverage. This rule has not been compiled for a SIEM backend or validated against live telemetry here.

title: Renamed Plink Execution
id: 1c12727d-02bf-45ff-a9f3-d49806a3cf43
status: test
description: Detects the execution of a renamed version of the Plink binary
references:
    - https://thedfirreport.com/2022/06/06/will-the-real-msiexec-please-stand-up-exploit-leads-to-data-exfiltration/
    - https://the.earth.li/~sgtatham/putty/0.58/htmldoc/Chapter7.html
author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
date: 2022-06-06
modified: 2023-02-03
tags:
    - attack.stealth
    - attack.t1036
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection:
        - OriginalFileName: 'Plink'
        - CommandLine|contains|all:
              - ' -l forward'
              - ' -P '
              - ' -R '
    filter:
        Image|endswith: '\plink.exe'
    condition: selection and not filter
falsepositives:
    - Unknown
level: high

Original YAML and metadata in JSON

False positives

• Unknown

Source references

• https://thedfirreport.com/2022/06/06/will-the-real-msiexec-please-stand-up-exploit-leads-to-data-exfiltration/
• https://the.earth.li/~sgtatham/putty/0.58/htmldoc/Chapter7.html