Sigma rule: Powershell Defender Exclusion
A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-ece8f52a47a2, updated 2022-05-12T00:00:00.000Z.
Rule
- Title
- Powershell Defender Exclusion
- Status
- test
- Level
- medium
- Author
- Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)
- Date
- 2021-04-29
- Modified
- 2022-05-12
- File
- rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_powershell_defender_exclusion.yml
- Commit
- ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84
Detects requests to exclude files, folders or processes from Antivirus scanning using PowerShell cmdlets
Log source
- product
- windows
- category
- process_creation
Detection
selection1:
CommandLine|contains:
- 'Add-MpPreference '
- 'Set-MpPreference '
selection2:
CommandLine|contains:
- ' -ExclusionPath '
- ' -ExclusionExtension '
- ' -ExclusionProcess '
- ' -ExclusionIpAddress '
condition: all of selection*False positives (as the rule lists them)
- Possible Admin Activity
- Other Cmdlets that may use the same parameters
Tags
- attack.defense-impairment
- attack.t1685
MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names
Related rules
References
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/defender-endpoint/configure-process-opened-file-exclusions-microsoft-defender-antivirus
- https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/f339e7da7d05f6057fdfcdd3742bfcf365fee2a9/atomics/T1562.001/T1562.001.md
- https://twitter.com/AdamTheAnalyst/status/1483497517119590403
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_powershell_defender_exclusion.yml
Sources and licences
SigmaHQ
"Powershell Defender Exclusion" by Florian Roth (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_powershell_defender_exclusion.yml.
Licensed under the Detection Rule License (DRL) 1.1: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/Detection-Rule-License
Cite this page
Dragons Eye Ransomware Tracker, "Sigma rule: Powershell Defender Exclusion",
entity page, dataset version ref-ece8f52a47a2, updated 2022-05-12T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/17769c90-230e-488b-a463-e05c08e9d48f (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 17769c90-230e-488b-a463-e05c08e9d48f, 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.