Nslookup PowerShell Download Cradle — Sigma Rule

Rule metadata and linked tags

Author: Sai Prashanth Pulisetti @pulisettis, Aishwarya Singam. Source status: test; severity: medium. Source dates: 2022-12-10 / 2025-02-25.

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

Pinned original Sigma rule · Detection Rule License 1.1

Source SHA-256: 201b6e3b5f27ac58c64664bd3819c9146b5debce9ab7da63ccfb46add0bf252e

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: Nslookup PowerShell Download Cradle
id: 999bff6d-dc15-44c9-9f5c-e1051bfc86e1
related:
    - id: 1b3b01c7-84e9-4072-86e5-fc285a41ff23
      type: similar
status: test
description: Detects a powershell download cradle using nslookup. This cradle uses nslookup to extract payloads from DNS records.
references:
    - https://twitter.com/Alh4zr3d/status/1566489367232651264
author: Sai Prashanth Pulisetti @pulisettis, Aishwarya Singam
date: 2022-12-10
modified: 2025-02-25
tags:
    - attack.execution
    - attack.t1059.001
logsource:
    product: windows
    category: ps_classic_start
detection:
    selection:
        Data|contains|all:
            - 'powershell'
            - 'nslookup'
            - '[1]'
        Data|contains:
            - '-q=txt http'
            - '-querytype=txt http'
            - '-type=txt http'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Unknown
level: medium

Original YAML and metadata in JSON

False positives

• Unknown

Source references

• https://twitter.com/Alh4zr3d/status/1566489367232651264