Sigma rule: File Download Via InstallUtil.EXE

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-cb9a61454e90, updated 2023-11-09T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
File Download Via InstallUtil.EXE
Status
test
Level
medium
Author
Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
Date
2022-08-19
Modified
2023-11-09
File
rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_installutil_download.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects use of .NET InstallUtil.exe in order to download arbitrary files. The files will be written to "%LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\IE\"

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection_img:
    - Image|endswith: '\InstallUtil.exe'
    - OriginalFileName: 'InstallUtil.exe'
selection_cli:
    CommandLine|contains:
        - 'ftp://'
        - 'http://'
        - 'https://'
condition: all of selection_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unknown

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_installutil_download.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "File Download Via InstallUtil.EXE" by Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_installutil_download.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: File Download Via InstallUtil.EXE",
entity page, dataset version ref-cb9a61454e90, updated 2023-11-09T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/75edd216-1939-4c73-8d61-7f3a0d85b5cc (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 75edd216-1939-4c73-8d61-7f3a0d85b5cc, 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.