Sigma rule: Detection of PowerShell Execution via Sqlps.exe

Rule

Title

Detection of PowerShell Execution via Sqlps.exe

Status

test

Level

medium

Author

Agro (@agro_sev) oscd.community

Date

2020-10-10

Modified

2022-12-09

File

rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_mssql_sqlps_susp_execution.yml

Commit

ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

This rule detects execution of a PowerShell code through the sqlps.exe utility, which is included in the standard set of utilities supplied with the MSSQL Server.
Script blocks are not logged in this case, so this utility helps to bypass protection mechanisms based on the analysis of these logs.

Log source

product

windows

category

process_creation

Detection

selection_parent:
    ParentImage|endswith: '\sqlps.exe'
selection_image:
    - Image|endswith: '\sqlps.exe'
    - OriginalFileName: 'sqlps.exe'
filter_image:
    ParentImage|endswith: '\sqlagent.exe'
condition: selection_parent or (selection_image and not filter_image)

False positives (as the rule lists them)

• Direct PS command execution through SQLPS.exe is uncommon, childprocess sqlps.exe spawned by sqlagent.exe is a legitimate action.

Tags

• attack.execution
• attack.stealth
• attack.t1059.001
• attack.t1127

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

• T1059.001
• T1127

References

• https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/tools/sqlps-utility?view=sql-server-ver15
• https://lolbas-project.github.io/lolbas/OtherMSBinaries/Sqlps/
• https://twitter.com/bryon_/status/975835709587075072

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