Sigma rule: AppX Package Installation Attempts Via AppInstaller.EXE

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-e916cdc0f6ab, updated 2023-11-09T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
AppX Package Installation Attempts Via AppInstaller.EXE
Status
test
Level
medium
Author
frack113
Date
2021-11-24
Modified
2023-11-09
File
rules/windows/dns_query/dns_query_win_appinstaller.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects DNS queries made by "AppInstaller.EXE". The AppInstaller is the default handler for the "ms-appinstaller" URI. It attempts to load/install a package from the referenced URL

Log source

product
windows
category
dns_query

Detection

selection:
    Image|startswith: 'C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_'
    Image|endswith: '\AppInstaller.exe'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unknown

Tags

  • attack.command-and-control
  • attack.t1105

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

Related rules

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/dns_query/dns_query_win_appinstaller.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "AppX Package Installation Attempts Via AppInstaller.EXE" by frack113 (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/dns_query/dns_query_win_appinstaller.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: AppX Package Installation Attempts Via AppInstaller.EXE",
entity page, dataset version ref-e916cdc0f6ab, updated 2023-11-09T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/7cff77e1-9663-46a3-8260-17f2e1aa9d0a (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 7cff77e1-9663-46a3-8260-17f2e1aa9d0a, 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.