Sigma rule: Script Interpreter Spawning Credential Scanner - Windows

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-da89899be04a, updated 2025-11-25T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Script Interpreter Spawning Credential Scanner - Windows
Status
experimental
Level
high
Author
Swachchhanda Shrawan Poudel (Nextron Systems)
Date
2025-11-25
File
rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_susp_script_interpretor_spawn_credential_scanner.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects a script interpreter process (like node.js or bun) spawning a known credential scanning tool (e.g., trufflehog, gitleaks).
This behavior is indicative of an attempt to find and steal secrets, as seen in the "Shai-Hulud: The Second Coming" campaign.

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection_parent:
    ParentImage|endswith:
       # Add more script interpreters as needed
        - '\node.exe'
        - '\bun.exe'
selection_child:
    - Image|endswith:
          - 'trufflehog.exe'
          - 'gitleaks.exe'
    - CommandLine|contains:
          - 'trufflehog'
          - 'gitleaks'
condition: all of selection_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Legitimate pre-commit hooks or CI/CD pipeline jobs that use a script to run a credential scanner as part of a security check.

Tags

  • attack.credential-access
  • attack.t1552
  • attack.collection
  • attack.execution
  • attack.t1005
  • attack.t1059.007

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/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_susp_script_interpretor_spawn_credential_scanner.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Script Interpreter Spawning Credential Scanner - Windows" by Swachchhanda Shrawan Poudel (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_susp_script_interpretor_spawn_credential_scanner.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: Script Interpreter Spawning Credential Scanner - Windows",
entity page, dataset version ref-da89899be04a, updated 2025-11-25T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/0f60b28c-64dd-4e2c-9a63-5334d3e3a6e6 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 0f60b28c-64dd-4e2c-9a63-5334d3e3a6e6, 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.