Sigma rule: Esentutl Volume Shadow Copy Service Keys

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-d1d25752f85d, updated 2022-12-25T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Esentutl Volume Shadow Copy Service Keys
Status
test
Level
high
Author
Roberto Rodriguez (Cyb3rWard0g), OTR (Open Threat Research)
Date
2020-10-20
Modified
2022-12-25
File
rules/windows/registry/registry_event/registry_event_esentutl_volume_shadow_copy_service_keys.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects the volume shadow copy service initialization and processing via esentutl. Registry keys such as HKLM\\System\\CurrentControlSet\\Services\\VSS\\Diag\\VolSnap\\Volume are captured.

Log source

product
windows
category
registry_event

Detection

selection:
    TargetObject|contains: 'System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VSS'
    Image|endswith: 'esentutl.exe' # limit esentutl as in references, too many FP to filter
filter:
    TargetObject|contains: 'System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VSS\Start'
condition: selection and not filter

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unknown

Tags

  • attack.credential-access
  • attack.t1003.002

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/registry/registry_event/registry_event_esentutl_volume_shadow_copy_service_keys.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Esentutl Volume Shadow Copy Service Keys" by Roberto Rodriguez (Cyb3rWard0g), OTR (Open Threat Research) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/registry/registry_event/registry_event_esentutl_volume_shadow_copy_service_keys.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: Esentutl Volume Shadow Copy Service Keys",
entity page, dataset version ref-d1d25752f85d, updated 2022-12-25T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/5aad0995-46ab-41bd-a9ff-724f41114971 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 5aad0995-46ab-41bd-a9ff-724f41114971, 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.