Sigma rule: Malicious Windows Script Components File Execution by TAEF Detection

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-3dbf28a40fbd, updated 2021-11-27T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Malicious Windows Script Components File Execution by TAEF Detection
Status
test
Level
low
Author
Agro (@agro_sev) oscd.community
Date
2020-10-13
Modified
2021-11-27
File
rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_susp_use_of_te_bin.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Windows Test Authoring and Execution Framework (TAEF) framework allows you to run automation by executing tests files written on different languages (C, C#, Microsoft COM Scripting interfaces
Adversaries may execute malicious code (such as WSC file with VBScript, dll and so on) directly by running te.exe

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection:
    - Image|endswith: '\te.exe'
    - ParentImage|endswith: '\te.exe'
    - OriginalFileName: '\te.exe'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • It's not an uncommon to use te.exe directly to execute legal TAEF tests

Tags

  • attack.stealth
  • attack.t1218

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_susp_use_of_te_bin.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Malicious Windows Script Components File Execution by TAEF Detection" by Agro (@agro_sev) oscd.community (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_susp_use_of_te_bin.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: Malicious Windows Script Components File Execution by TAEF Detection",
entity page, dataset version ref-3dbf28a40fbd, updated 2021-11-27T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/634b00d5-ccc3-4a06-ae3b-0ec8444dd51b (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 634b00d5-ccc3-4a06-ae3b-0ec8444dd51b, 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.