Sigma rule: Potential CVE-2021-44228 Exploitation Attempt - VMware Horizon
A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-14f19e2a65d6, updated 2022-01-14T00:00:00.000Z.
Rule
- Title
- Potential CVE-2021-44228 Exploitation Attempt - VMware Horizon
- Status
- test
- Level
- high
- Author
- @kostastsale
- Date
- 2022-01-14
- File
- rules-emerging-threats/2021/Exploits/CVE-2021-44228/proc_creation_win_exploit_cve_2021_44228_vmware_horizon_log4j.yml
- Commit
- ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84
Detects potential initial exploitation attempts against VMware Horizon deployments running a vulnerable versions of Log4j.
Log source
- product
- windows
- category
- process_creation
Detection
selection:
ParentImage|endswith: '\ws_TomcatService.exe'
filter_main_shells:
Image|endswith:
- '\cmd.exe'
- '\powershell.exe'
condition: selection and not 1 of filter_main_*False positives (as the rule lists them)
- Unlikely
Tags
- attack.initial-access
- attack.t1190
- cve.2021-44228
- detection.emerging-threats
CVEs this rule names
MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names
References
- https://portswigger.net/daily-swig/vmware-horizon-under-attack-as-china-based-ransomware-group-targets-log4j-vulnerability
- https://twitter.com/TheDFIRReport/status/1482078434327244805
- https://www.pwndefend.com/2022/01/07/log4shell-exploitation-and-hunting-on-vmware-horizon-cve-2021-44228/
Read on 2026-11-03T00:58:21.399Z under licence sigma-drl-1.1@d5f4c36a from https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules-emerging-threats/2021/Exploits/CVE-2021-44228/proc_creation_win_exploit_cve_2021_44228_vmware_horizon_log4j.yml
Sources and licences
SigmaHQ
"Potential CVE-2021-44228 Exploitation Attempt - VMware Horizon" by @kostastsale (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules-emerging-threats/2021/Exploits/CVE-2021-44228/proc_creation_win_exploit_cve_2021_44228_vmware_horizon_log4j.yml.
Licensed under the Detection Rule License (DRL) 1.1: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/Detection-Rule-License
Cite this page
Dragons Eye Ransomware Tracker, "Sigma rule: Potential CVE-2021-44228 Exploitation Attempt - VMware Horizon",
entity page, dataset version ref-14f19e2a65d6, updated 2022-01-14T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/3eb91f0a-0060-424a-a676-59f5fdd75610 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 3eb91f0a-0060-424a-a676-59f5fdd75610, 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.