Sigma rule: Port Forwarding Activity Via SSH.EXE

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-6207f1b67fd6, updated 2024-03-05T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Port Forwarding Activity Via SSH.EXE
Status
test
Level
medium
Author
Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
Date
2022-10-12
Modified
2024-03-05
File
rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_ssh_port_forward.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects port forwarding activity via SSH.exe

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection:
    Image|endswith: '\ssh.exe'
    CommandLine|contains|windash: ' -R '
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Administrative activity using a remote port forwarding to a local port

Tags

  • attack.command-and-control
  • attack.lateral-movement
  • attack.t1572
  • attack.t1021.001
  • attack.t1021.004

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/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_ssh_port_forward.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Port Forwarding Activity Via SSH.EXE" by Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_ssh_port_forward.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: Port Forwarding Activity Via SSH.EXE",
entity page, dataset version ref-6207f1b67fd6, updated 2024-03-05T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/327f48c1-a6db-4eb8-875a-f6981f1b0183 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 327f48c1-a6db-4eb8-875a-f6981f1b0183, 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.