Sigma rule: Private Keys Reconnaissance Via CommandLine Tools

Rule

Title

Private Keys Reconnaissance Via CommandLine Tools

Status

test

Level

medium

Author

frack113, Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)

Date

2021-07-20

Modified

2023-03-06

File

rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_susp_private_keys_recon.yml

Commit

ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Adversaries may search for private key certificate files on compromised systems for insecurely stored credential

Log source

product

windows

category

process_creation

Detection

selection_cmd_img:
    - Image|endswith: '\cmd.exe'
    - OriginalFileName: 'Cmd.Exe'
selection_cmd_cli:
    CommandLine|contains: 'dir '
selection_pwsh_img:
    - Image|endswith:
          - '\powershell.exe'
          - '\pwsh.exe'
    - OriginalFileName:
          - 'PowerShell.EXE'
          - 'pwsh.dll'
selection_pwsh_cli:
    CommandLine|contains: 'Get-ChildItem '
selection_findstr:
    - Image|endswith: '\findstr.exe'
    - OriginalFileName: 'FINDSTR.EXE'
selection_ext:
    CommandLine|contains:
        - '.key'
        - '.pgp'
        - '.gpg'
        - '.ppk'
        - '.p12'
        - '.pem'
        - '.pfx'
        - '.cer'
        - '.p7b'
        - '.asc'
condition: selection_ext and (all of selection_cmd_* or all of selection_pwsh_* or selection_findstr)

False positives (as the rule lists them)

• Unknown

Tags

• attack.credential-access
• attack.t1552.004

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

• T1552.004

References

• https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/f339e7da7d05f6057fdfcdd3742bfcf365fee2a9/atomics/T1552.004/T1552.004.md

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_susp_private_keys_recon.yml