Sigma rule: Suspicious Wordpad Outbound Connections

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-0af2f850572e, updated 2023-12-15T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Suspicious Wordpad Outbound Connections
Status
test
Level
medium
Author
X__Junior (Nextron Systems)
Date
2023-07-12
Modified
2023-12-15
File
rules/windows/network_connection/net_connection_win_wordpad_uncommon_ports.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects a network connection initiated by "wordpad.exe" over uncommon destination ports.
This might indicate potential process injection activity from a beacon or similar mechanisms.

Log source

product
windows
category
network_connection

Detection

selection:
    Initiated: 'true'
    Image|endswith: '\wordpad.exe'
filter_main_ports:
    DestinationPort:
        - 80
        - 139
        - 443
        - 445
        - 465
        - 587
        - 993
        - 995
condition: selection and not 1 of filter_main_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Other ports can be used, apply additional filters accordingly

Tags

  • attack.command-and-control
  • attack.stealth

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/network_connection/net_connection_win_wordpad_uncommon_ports.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Suspicious Wordpad Outbound Connections" by X__Junior (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/network_connection/net_connection_win_wordpad_uncommon_ports.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: Suspicious Wordpad Outbound Connections",
entity page, dataset version ref-0af2f850572e, updated 2023-12-15T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/786cdae8-fefb-4eb2-9227-04e34060db01 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 786cdae8-fefb-4eb2-9227-04e34060db01, 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.