Sigma rule: Potential Password Reconnaissance Via Findstr.EXE

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-b9e0a915d0ce, updated 2023-05-18T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Potential Password Reconnaissance Via Findstr.EXE
Status
test
Level
medium
Author
Josh Nickels
Date
2023-05-18
File
rules-threat-hunting/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_findstr_password_recon.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects command line usage of "findstr" to search for the "passwords" keyword in a variety of different languages

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection_img:
    - Image|endswith: '\findstr.exe'
    - OriginalFileName: 'FINDSTR.EXE'
selection_cli:
    CommandLine|contains:
        - 'contraseña' # Spanish
        - 'hasło' # Polish
        - 'heslo' # Czech
        - 'parola' # Italian
        - 'passe' # French
        - 'passw' # German, English
        - 'senha' # Portuguese
        - 'senord' # Swedish
        - '密碼' # Cantonese
condition: all of selection_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unknown

Tags

  • attack.credential-access
  • attack.t1552.001
  • detection.threat-hunting

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-threat-hunting/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_findstr_password_recon.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Potential Password Reconnaissance Via Findstr.EXE" by Josh Nickels (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules-threat-hunting/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_findstr_password_recon.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: Potential Password Reconnaissance Via Findstr.EXE",
entity page, dataset version ref-b9e0a915d0ce, updated 2023-05-18T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/1a0f6f16-2099-4753-9a02-43b6ac7a1fa5 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 1a0f6f16-2099-4753-9a02-43b6ac7a1fa5, 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.