Sigma rule: Renamed PingCastle Binary Execution

Rule

Title

Renamed PingCastle Binary Execution

Status

test

Level

high

Author

Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems), X__Junior (Nextron Systems)

Date

2024-01-11

File

rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_renamed_pingcastle.yml

Commit

ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects the execution of a renamed "PingCastle" binary based on the PE metadata fields.

Log source

product

windows

category

process_creation

Detection

selection:
    - OriginalFileName:
          - 'PingCastleReporting.exe'
          - 'PingCastleCloud.exe'
          - 'PingCastle.exe'
    - CommandLine|contains:
          - '--scanner aclcheck'
          - '--scanner antivirus'
          - '--scanner computerversion'
          - '--scanner foreignusers'
          - '--scanner laps_bitlocker'
          - '--scanner localadmin'
          - '--scanner nullsession'
          - '--scanner nullsession-trust'
          - '--scanner oxidbindings'
          - '--scanner remote'
          - '--scanner share'
          - '--scanner smb'
          - '--scanner smb3querynetwork'
          - '--scanner spooler'
          - '--scanner startup'
          - '--scanner zerologon'
    - CommandLine|contains: '--no-enum-limit'
    - CommandLine|contains|all:
          - '--healthcheck'
          - '--level Full'
    - CommandLine|contains|all:
          - '--healthcheck'
          - '--server '
filter_main_img:
    Image|endswith:
        - '\PingCastleReporting.exe'
        - '\PingCastleCloud.exe'
        - '\PingCastle.exe'
condition: selection and not 1 of filter_main_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

• Unknown

Tags

• attack.execution
• attack.stealth
• attack.t1059
• attack.t1202

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

• T1059
• T1202

References

• https://thedfirreport.com/2023/10/30/netsupport-intrusion-results-in-domain-compromise/
• https://www.pingcastle.com/documentation/scanner/

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_renamed_pingcastle.yml