Sigma rule: Potential Data Stealing Via Chromium Headless Debugging

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-7a289f5a13b2, updated 2022-12-23T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Potential Data Stealing Via Chromium Headless Debugging
Status
test
Level
high
Author
Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
Date
2022-12-23
File
rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_browsers_chromium_headless_debugging.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects chromium based browsers starting in headless and debugging mode and pointing to a user profile. This could be a sign of data stealing or remote control

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection:
    CommandLine|contains|all:
        - '--remote-debugging-' # Covers: --remote-debugging-address, --remote-debugging-port, --remote-debugging-socket-name, --remote-debugging-pipe....etc
        - '--user-data-dir'
        - '--headless'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unknown

Tags

  • attack.credential-access
  • attack.collection
  • attack.stealth
  • attack.t1185
  • attack.t1564.003

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

Related rules

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_browsers_chromium_headless_debugging.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Potential Data Stealing Via Chromium Headless Debugging" by Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_browsers_chromium_headless_debugging.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 Data Stealing Via Chromium Headless Debugging",
entity page, dataset version ref-7a289f5a13b2, updated 2022-12-23T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/3e8207c5-fcd2-4ea6-9418-15d45b4890e4 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 3e8207c5-fcd2-4ea6-9418-15d45b4890e4, 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.