Sigma rule: Read and Execute a File Via Cmd.exe

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-773961b849fe, updated 2023-03-07T00:00:00.000Z.

SigmaHQ marks this rule as deprecated.

Rule

Title: Read and Execute a File Via Cmd.exe
Status: deprecated
Level: medium
Author: frack113
Date: 2022/08/20
Modified: 2023/03/07
File: deprecated/windows/proc_creation_win_cmd_read_contents.yml
Commit: ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detect use of "/R <" to read and execute a file via cmd.exe

Log source

product: windows
category: process_creation

Detection

selection_cmd:
    - OriginalFileName: 'Cmd.Exe'
    - Image|endswith: '\cmd.exe'
selection_read:
    - ParentCommandLine|contains|all:
        - 'cmd'
        - '/r '
        - '<'
    - CommandLine|contains|all:
        - 'cmd'
        - '/r '
        - '<'
condition: all of selection_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

Legitimate use

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

T1059.003

References

https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/40b77d63808dd4f4eafb83949805636735a1fd15/atomics/T1059.003/T1059.003.md

Read on 2026-11-03T00:58:21.399Z under licence sigma-drl-1.1@d5f4c36a from https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/deprecated/windows/proc_creation_win_cmd_read_contents.yml

Sources and licences

SigmaHQ
"Read and Execute a File Via Cmd.exe" by frack113 (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/deprecated/windows/proc_creation_win_cmd_read_contents.yml.
Licensed under the Detection Rule License (DRL) 1.1: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/Detection-Rule-License
Detection Rule License (DRL) 1.1

Cite this page

Dragons Eye Ransomware Tracker, "Sigma rule: Read and Execute a File Via Cmd.exe",
entity page, dataset version ref-773961b849fe, updated 2023-03-07T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/00a4bacd-6db4-46d5-9258-a7d5ebff4003 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 00a4bacd-6db4-46d5-9258-a7d5ebff4003, commit ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84.

Pages change. The dataset version identifies the data, but no archive of old versions is kept, so this citation cannot be replayed later.