Sigma rule: HackTool - CACTUSTORCH Remote Thread Creation

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-9b62df49e46e, updated 2023-05-05T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
HackTool - CACTUSTORCH Remote Thread Creation
Status
test
Level
high
Author
@SBousseaden (detection), Thomas Patzke (rule)
Date
2019-02-01
Modified
2023-05-05
File
rules/windows/create_remote_thread/create_remote_thread_win_hktl_cactustorch.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects remote thread creation from CACTUSTORCH as described in references.

Log source

product
windows
category
create_remote_thread

Detection

selection:
    SourceImage|endswith:
        - '\System32\cscript.exe'
        - '\System32\wscript.exe'
        - '\System32\mshta.exe'
        - '\winword.exe'
        - '\excel.exe'
    TargetImage|contains: '\SysWOW64\'
    StartModule: null
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unknown

Tags

  • attack.privilege-escalation
  • attack.execution
  • attack.stealth
  • attack.t1055.012
  • attack.t1059.005
  • attack.t1059.007
  • attack.t1218.005

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/create_remote_thread/create_remote_thread_win_hktl_cactustorch.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "HackTool - CACTUSTORCH Remote Thread Creation" by @SBousseaden (detection), Thomas Patzke (rule) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/create_remote_thread/create_remote_thread_win_hktl_cactustorch.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: HackTool - CACTUSTORCH Remote Thread Creation",
entity page, dataset version ref-9b62df49e46e, updated 2023-05-05T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/2e4e488a-6164-4811-9ea1-f960c7359c40 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 2e4e488a-6164-4811-9ea1-f960c7359c40, 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.