Sigma rule: Potential Adplus.EXE Abuse

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-17ec76f1e9be, updated 2023-06-23T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Potential Adplus.EXE Abuse
Status
test
Level
high
Author
Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
Date
2022-06-09
Modified
2023-06-23
File
rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_adplus_memory_dump.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects execution of "AdPlus.exe", a binary that is part of the Windows SDK that can be used as a LOLBIN in order to dump process memory and execute arbitrary commands.

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection_img:
    - Image|endswith: '\adplus.exe'
    - OriginalFileName: 'Adplus.exe'
selection_cli:
    CommandLine|contains:
        # Dump process memory
        - ' -hang '
        - ' -pn '
        - ' -pmn '
        - ' -p '
        - ' -po '
        # Using a config file
        - ' -c '
        # Execute commands inline
        - ' -sc '
condition: all of selection_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Legitimate usage of Adplus for debugging purposes

Tags

  • attack.execution
  • attack.credential-access
  • attack.t1003.001

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/process_creation/proc_creation_win_adplus_memory_dump.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Potential Adplus.EXE Abuse" by Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_adplus_memory_dump.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: Potential Adplus.EXE Abuse",
entity page, dataset version ref-17ec76f1e9be, updated 2023-06-23T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/2f869d59-7f6a-4931-992c-cce556ff2d53 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 2f869d59-7f6a-4931-992c-cce556ff2d53, 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.