Sigma rule: Remote Thread Creation By Uncommon Source Image

Rule

Title

Remote Thread Creation By Uncommon Source Image

Status

test

Level

medium

Author

Perez Diego (@darkquassar), oscd.community

Date

2019-10-27

Modified

2025-07-08

File

rules/windows/create_remote_thread/create_remote_thread_win_susp_uncommon_source_image.yml

Commit

ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects uncommon processes creating remote threads.

Log source

product

windows

category

create_remote_thread

Detection

selection:
    SourceImage|endswith:
        - '\explorer.exe'
        - '\iexplore.exe'
        - '\msiexec.exe'
        - '\powerpnt.exe'
        - '\schtasks.exe'
        - '\winlogon.exe'
filter_main_winlogon_1:
    SourceImage: 'C:\Windows\System32\winlogon.exe'
    TargetImage:
        - 'C:\Windows\System32\services.exe' # happens on Windows 7
        - 'C:\Windows\System32\wininit.exe' # happens on Windows 7
        - 'C:\Windows\System32\csrss.exe' # multiple OS
        - 'C:\Windows\System32\LogonUI.exe' # multiple OS
        - 'C:\Windows\System32\wlrmdr.exe'
        - 'C:\Windows\System32\AtBroker.exe'
        - 'C:\Windows\System32\dwm.exe'
        - 'C:\Windows\System32\fontdrvhost.exe'
        - 'C:\Windows\System32\userinit.exe'
filter_main_winlogon_2:
    SourceImage: 'C:\Windows\System32\winlogon.exe'
    TargetParentProcessId: 4
filter_main_schtasks_conhost:
    SourceImage:
        - 'C:\Windows\System32\schtasks.exe'
        - 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\schtasks.exe'
    TargetImage: 'C:\Windows\System32\conhost.exe'
filter_main_explorer:
    SourceImage: 'C:\Windows\explorer.exe'
    TargetImage|startswith:
        - 'C:\Program Files (x86)\'
        - 'C:\Program Files\'
        - 'C:\Windows\System32\'
        - 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\'
filter_main_system:
    TargetImage: 'System'
filter_main_msiexec_1:
    # Note: MSI installers will trigger this
    SourceImage|endswith: '\msiexec.exe'
    TargetImage|contains:
        - '\AppData\Local\'
        - 'C:\Program Files (x86)\'
        - 'C:\Program Files\'
        - 'C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\' # C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\ngen.exe
filter_main_msiexec_2:
    SourceImage|endswith: '\msiexec.exe'
    TargetImage:
        - 'C:\Windows\System32\msiexec.exe'
        - 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\msiexec.exe'
filter_main_iexplore:
    SourceImage: 'C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe'
    TargetImage:
        - 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe'
        - 'C:\Windows\System32\rundll32.exe'
filter_main_powerpnt:
    SourceImage|endswith: '\POWERPNT.EXE'
    TargetImage|contains:
        - 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\' # C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX64\Microsoft Shared\Office16\AI\ai.exe
        - 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\'
filter_optional_aurora_smartconsole1:
    SourceImage: 'C:\Program Files\internet explorer\iexplore.exe'
    SourceCommandLine|contains|all:
        - 'https://'
        - '.checkpoint.com/documents/'
        - 'SmartConsole_OLH/'
        - 'default.htm#cshid='
filter_optional_aurora_smartconsole2:
    SourceImage: 'C:\Program Files\internet explorer\iexplore.exe'
    SourceParentImage|startswith:
        - 'C:\Program Files\'
        - 'C:\Program Files (x86)\'
    SourceParentImage|contains|all:
        - '\CheckPoint\SmartConsole\'
        - '\SmartConsole.exe'
filter_optional_powerpnt:
    # Raised by the following issue: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/issues/2479
    SourceImage|contains: '\Microsoft Office\'
    SourceImage|endswith: '\POWERPNT.EXE'
    TargetImage: 'C:\Windows\System32\csrss.exe'
filter_main_null:
    TargetImage: null
filter_main_empty:
    TargetImage: ''
filter_optional_onedrive:
    SourceImage: 'C:\Windows\explorer.exe'
    TargetImage|endswith: '\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneDrive\OneDrive.exe'
filter_optional_aurora:
    SourceImage: 'C:\Windows\explorer.exe'
    TargetImage|endswith: '\aurora-dashboard.exe'
filter_optional_officesetup:
    SourceImage: 'C:\Windows\explorer.exe'
    TargetImage|endswith: '\OfficeSetup.exe'
condition: selection and not 1 of filter_main_* and not 1 of filter_optional_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

• This rule is best put in testing first in order to create a baseline that reflects the data in your environment.

Tags

• attack.privilege-escalation
• attack.stealth
• attack.t1055

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

• T1055

Related rules

• 02d1d718-dd13-41af-989d-ea85c7fab93f (derived)

References

• Personal research, statistical analysis
• https://lolbas-project.github.io

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/create_remote_thread/create_remote_thread_win_susp_uncommon_source_image.yml