Sigma rule: Mimikatz Use

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-1f1c59aa1f7e, updated 2022-01-05T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Mimikatz Use
Status
test
Level
high
Author
Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), David ANDRE (additional keywords)
Date
2017-01-10
Modified
2022-01-05
File
rules/windows/builtin/win_alert_mimikatz_keywords.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

This method detects mimikatz keywords in different Eventlogs (some of them only appear in older Mimikatz version that are however still used by different threat groups)

Log source

product
windows

Detection

keywords:
    - 'dpapi::masterkey'
    - 'eo.oe.kiwi'
    - 'event::clear'
    - 'event::drop'
    - 'gentilkiwi.com'
    - 'kerberos::golden'
    - 'kerberos::ptc'
    - 'kerberos::ptt'
    - 'kerberos::tgt'
    - 'Kiwi Legit Printer'
    - 'lsadump::'
    - 'mimidrv.sys'
    - '\mimilib.dll'
    - 'misc::printnightmare'
    - 'misc::shadowcopies'
    - 'misc::skeleton'
    - 'privilege::backup'
    - 'privilege::debug'
    - 'privilege::driver'
    - 'sekurlsa::'
filter:
    EventID: 15  # Sysmon's FileStream Events (could cause false positives when Sigma rules get copied on/to a system)
condition: keywords and not filter

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Naughty administrators
  • AV Signature updates
  • Files with Mimikatz in their filename

Tags

  • attack.s0002
  • attack.lateral-movement
  • attack.credential-access
  • car.2013-07-001
  • car.2019-04-004
  • attack.t1003.002
  • attack.t1003.004
  • attack.t1003.001
  • attack.t1003.006

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

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/windows/builtin/win_alert_mimikatz_keywords.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Mimikatz Use" by Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), David ANDRE (additional keywords) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/builtin/win_alert_mimikatz_keywords.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: Mimikatz Use",
entity page, dataset version ref-1f1c59aa1f7e, updated 2022-01-05T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/06d71506-7beb-4f22-8888-e2e5e2ca7fd8 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 06d71506-7beb-4f22-8888-e2e5e2ca7fd8, 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.