Sigma rule: Suspicious Windows Update Agent Empty Cmdline

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-1b78b721d440, updated 2023-11-11T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Suspicious Windows Update Agent Empty Cmdline
Status
test
Level
high
Author
Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)
Date
2022-02-26
Modified
2023-11-11
File
rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_wuauclt_no_cli_flags_execution.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects suspicious Windows Update Agent activity in which a wuauclt.exe process command line doesn't contain any command line flags

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection_img:
    - Image|endswith: '\Wuauclt.exe'
    - OriginalFileName: 'Wuauclt.exe'
selection_cli:
    CommandLine|endswith:
        - 'Wuauclt'
        - 'Wuauclt.exe'
condition: all of selection*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unknown

Tags

  • attack.stealth
  • attack.t1036

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_wuauclt_no_cli_flags_execution.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Suspicious Windows Update Agent Empty Cmdline" by Florian Roth (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_wuauclt_no_cli_flags_execution.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: Suspicious Windows Update Agent Empty Cmdline",
entity page, dataset version ref-1b78b721d440, updated 2023-11-11T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/52d097e2-063e-4c9c-8fbb-855c8948d135 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 52d097e2-063e-4c9c-8fbb-855c8948d135, 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.