Sigma rule: HackTool - Typical HiveNightmare SAM File Export

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-3aff679c3905, updated 2024-06-27T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
HackTool - Typical HiveNightmare SAM File Export
Status
test
Level
high
Author
Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)
Date
2021-07-23
Modified
2024-06-27
File
rules/windows/file/file_event/file_event_win_hktl_hivenightmare_file_exports.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects files written by the different tools that exploit HiveNightmare

Log source

product
windows
category
file_event

Detection

selection:
    - TargetFilename|contains:
          - '\hive_sam_'  # Go version
          - '\SAM-2021-'  # C++ version
          - '\SAM-2022-'  # C++ version
          - '\SAM-2023-'  # C++ version
          - '\SAM-haxx'   # Early C++ versions
          - '\Sam.save'   # PowerShell version
    - TargetFilename: 'C:\windows\temp\sam'  # C# version of HiveNightmare
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Files that accidentally contain these strings

Tags

  • attack.credential-access
  • attack.t1552.001
  • cve.2021-36934

CVEs this rule names

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/file/file_event/file_event_win_hktl_hivenightmare_file_exports.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "HackTool - Typical HiveNightmare SAM File Export" by Florian Roth (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/file/file_event/file_event_win_hktl_hivenightmare_file_exports.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: HackTool - Typical HiveNightmare SAM File Export",
entity page, dataset version ref-3aff679c3905, updated 2024-06-27T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/6ea858a8-ba71-4a12-b2cc-5d83312404c7 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 6ea858a8-ba71-4a12-b2cc-5d83312404c7, 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.