Sigma rule: Command Line Execution with Suspicious URL and AppData Strings

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-0cf7fdd7ec0b, updated 2021-11-27T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Command Line Execution with Suspicious URL and AppData Strings
Status
test
Level
medium
Author
Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), Jonhnathan Ribeiro, oscd.community
Date
2019-01-16
Modified
2021-11-27
File
rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_cmd_http_appdata.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects a suspicious command line execution that includes an URL and AppData string in the command line parameters as used by several droppers (js/vbs > powershell)

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection:
    Image|endswith: '\cmd.exe'
    CommandLine|contains|all:
        - 'http' # captures both http and https
        - '://'
        - '%AppData%'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • High

Tags

  • attack.execution
  • attack.command-and-control
  • attack.t1059.003
  • attack.t1059.001
  • attack.t1105

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_cmd_http_appdata.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Command Line Execution with Suspicious URL and AppData Strings" by Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), Jonhnathan Ribeiro, oscd.community (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_cmd_http_appdata.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: Command Line Execution with Suspicious URL and AppData Strings",
entity page, dataset version ref-0cf7fdd7ec0b, updated 2021-11-27T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/1ac8666b-046f-4201-8aba-1951aaec03a3 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 1ac8666b-046f-4201-8aba-1951aaec03a3, 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.