Sigma rule: Headless Process Launched Via Conhost.EXE

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-27651e5bf7e8, updated 2024-07-23T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Headless Process Launched Via Conhost.EXE
Status
test
Level
medium
Author
Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
Date
2024-07-23
File
rules-threat-hunting/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_conhost_headless_execution.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects the launch of a child process via "conhost.exe" with the "--headless" flag.
The "--headless" flag hides the windows from the user upon execution.

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection:
    ParentImage|endswith: '\conhost.exe'
    ParentCommandLine|contains: '--headless'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unknown

Tags

  • attack.execution
  • attack.t1059.001
  • attack.t1059.003
  • detection.threat-hunting

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

Related rules

References

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

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Headless Process Launched Via Conhost.EXE" by Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules-threat-hunting/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_conhost_headless_execution.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: Headless Process Launched Via Conhost.EXE",
entity page, dataset version ref-27651e5bf7e8, updated 2024-07-23T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/00ca75ab-d5ce-43be-b86c-55ff39c6abfc (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 00ca75ab-d5ce-43be-b86c-55ff39c6abfc, 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.