Sigma rule: Suspicious Characters in CommandLine

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-18ecf2e02cd3, updated 2023-03-03T00:00:00.000Z.

SigmaHQ marks this rule as deprecated.

Rule

Title
Suspicious Characters in CommandLine
Status
deprecated
Level
high
Author
Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)
Date
2022/04/27
Modified
2023/03/03
File
deprecated/windows/proc_creation_win_susp_commandline_chars.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects suspicious Unicode characters in the command line, which could be a sign of obfuscation or defense evasion

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection_spacing_modifiers:
    CommandLine|contains: # spacing modifier letters that get auto-replaced
        - 'ˣ' # 0x02E3
        - '˪' # 0x02EA
        - 'ˢ' # 0x02E2
selection_unicode_slashes: # forward slash alternatives
    CommandLine|contains:
        - '∕' # 0x22FF
        - '⁄' # 0x206F
selection_unicode_hyphens: # hyphen alternatives
    CommandLine|contains:
        - '―' # 0x2015
        - '—' # 0x2014
condition: 1 of selection*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unknown

Tags

  • attack.defense_evasion

References

Read on 2026-11-03T00:58:21.399Z under licence sigma-drl-1.1@d5f4c36a from https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/deprecated/windows/proc_creation_win_susp_commandline_chars.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Suspicious Characters in CommandLine" by Florian Roth (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/deprecated/windows/proc_creation_win_susp_commandline_chars.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: Suspicious Characters in CommandLine",
entity page, dataset version ref-18ecf2e02cd3, updated 2023-03-03T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/2c0d2d7b-30d6-4d14-9751-7b9113042ab9 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 2c0d2d7b-30d6-4d14-9751-7b9113042ab9, 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.