Sigma rule: LiveKD Driver Creation

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-230b65fbb2b3, updated 2023-05-16T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
LiveKD Driver Creation
Status
test
Level
medium
Author
Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
Date
2023-05-16
File
rules/windows/file/file_event/file_event_win_sysinternals_livekd_driver.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects the creation of the LiveKD driver, which is used for live kernel debugging

Log source

product
windows
category
file_event

Detection

selection:
    TargetFilename: 'C:\Windows\System32\drivers\LiveKdD.SYS'
    Image|endswith:
        - '\livekd.exe'
        - '\livek64.exe'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Legitimate usage of LiveKD for debugging purposes will also trigger this

Tags

  • attack.privilege-escalation
  • attack.stealth

References

  • Internal Research

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/file/file_event/file_event_win_sysinternals_livekd_driver.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "LiveKD Driver Creation" by Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/file/file_event/file_event_win_sysinternals_livekd_driver.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: LiveKD Driver Creation",
entity page, dataset version ref-230b65fbb2b3, updated 2023-05-16T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/16fe46bb-4f64-46aa-817d-ff7bec4a2352 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 16fe46bb-4f64-46aa-817d-ff7bec4a2352, 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.