Sigma rule: CMSTP Execution Process Creation

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-72f107a1ee09, updated 2020-12-23T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title: CMSTP Execution Process Creation
Status: stable
Level: high
Author: Nik Seetharaman
Date: 2018-07-16
Modified: 2020-12-23
File: rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_cmstp_execution_by_creation.yml
Commit: ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects various indicators of Microsoft Connection Manager Profile Installer execution

Log source

product: windows
category: process_creation

Detection

# CMSTP Spawning Child Process
selection:
    ParentImage|endswith: '\cmstp.exe'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

Legitimate CMSTP use (unlikely in modern enterprise environments)

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

References

https://web.archive.org/web/20190720093911/http://www.endurant.io/cmstp/detecting-cmstp-enabled-code-execution-and-uac-bypass-with-sysmon/

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_cmstp_execution_by_creation.yml

Sources and licences

SigmaHQ
"CMSTP Execution Process Creation" by Nik Seetharaman (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_cmstp_execution_by_creation.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: CMSTP Execution Process Creation",
entity page, dataset version ref-72f107a1ee09, updated 2020-12-23T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/7d4cdc5a-0076-40ca-aac8-f7e714570e47 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 7d4cdc5a-0076-40ca-aac8-f7e714570e47, 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.