Sigma rule: Cobalt Strike DNS Beaconing

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-8d5ae33d9712, updated 2022-10-09T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Cobalt Strike DNS Beaconing
Status
test
Level
critical
Author
Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)
Date
2018-05-10
Modified
2022-10-09
File
rules/network/dns/net_dns_mal_cobaltstrike.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects suspicious DNS queries known from Cobalt Strike beacons

Log source

category
dns

Detection

selection1:
    query|startswith:
        - 'aaa.stage.'
        - 'post.1'
selection2:
    query|contains: '.stage.123456.'
condition: 1 of selection*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unknown

Tags

  • attack.command-and-control
  • attack.t1071.004

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/network/dns/net_dns_mal_cobaltstrike.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Cobalt Strike DNS Beaconing" by Florian Roth (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/network/dns/net_dns_mal_cobaltstrike.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: Cobalt Strike DNS Beaconing",
entity page, dataset version ref-8d5ae33d9712, updated 2022-10-09T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/2975af79-28c4-4d2f-a951-9095f229df29 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 2975af79-28c4-4d2f-a951-9095f229df29, 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.