Sigma rule: Suspicious Process Start Locations

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-1cf5c8a97cf2, updated 2022-01-07T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Suspicious Process Start Locations
Status
test
Level
medium
Author
juju4, Jonhnathan Ribeiro, oscd.community
Date
2019-01-16
Modified
2022-01-07
File
rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_rundll32_run_locations.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects suspicious process run from unusual locations

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection:
    - Image|contains:
          - ':\RECYCLER\'
          - ':\SystemVolumeInformation\'
    - Image|startswith:
          - 'C:\Windows\Tasks\'
          - 'C:\Windows\debug\'
          - 'C:\Windows\fonts\'
          - 'C:\Windows\help\'
          - 'C:\Windows\drivers\'
          - 'C:\Windows\addins\'
          - 'C:\Windows\cursors\'
          - 'C:\Windows\system32\tasks\'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • False positives depend on scripts and administrative tools used in the monitored environment

Tags

  • attack.stealth
  • attack.t1036
  • car.2013-05-002

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/process_creation/proc_creation_win_rundll32_run_locations.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Suspicious Process Start Locations" by juju4, Jonhnathan Ribeiro, oscd.community (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_rundll32_run_locations.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: Suspicious Process Start Locations",
entity page, dataset version ref-1cf5c8a97cf2, updated 2022-01-07T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/15b75071-74cc-47e0-b4c6-b43744a62a2b (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 15b75071-74cc-47e0-b4c6-b43744a62a2b, 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.