Sigma rule: DarkGate - Autoit3.EXE File Creation By Uncommon Process

Rule

Title

DarkGate - Autoit3.EXE File Creation By Uncommon Process

Status

test

Level

medium

Author

Micah Babinski

Date

2023-10-15

File

rules-emerging-threats/2023/Malware/DarkGate/file_event_win_malware_darkgate_autoit3_binary_creation.yml

Commit

ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects the usage of curl.exe, KeyScramblerLogon, or other non-standard/suspicious processes used to create Autoit3.exe.
This activity has been associated with DarkGate malware, which uses Autoit3.exe to execute shellcode that performs
process injection and connects to the DarkGate command-and-control server. Curl, KeyScramblerLogon, and these other
processes consitute non-standard and suspicious ways to retrieve the Autoit3 executable.

Log source

product

windows

category

file_event

Detection

selection:
    Image|endswith:
        - '\Autoit3.exe'
        - '\curl.exe'
        - '\ExtExport.exe'
        - '\KeyScramblerLogon.exe'
        - '\wmprph.exe'
    TargetFilename|endswith: '\Autoit3.exe'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

• Unknown

Tags

• attack.command-and-control
• attack.execution
• attack.t1105
• attack.t1059
• detection.emerging-threats

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

• T1059
• T1105

References

• https://github.security.telekom.com/2023/08/darkgate-loader.html
• https://www.kroll.com/en/insights/publications/cyber/microsoft-teams-used-as-initial-access-for-darkgate-malware
• https://github.com/pr0xylife/DarkGate/tree/main

Read on 2026-11-03T00:58:21.399Z under licence sigma-drl-1.1@d5f4c36a from https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules-emerging-threats/2023/Malware/DarkGate/file_event_win_malware_darkgate_autoit3_binary_creation.yml