Sigma rule: Uncommon Child Process Of Conhost.EXE

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-e3739b3b4018, updated 2023-12-11T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Uncommon Child Process Of Conhost.EXE
Status
test
Level
medium
Author
omkar72
Date
2020-10-25
Modified
2023-12-11
File
rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_conhost_susp_child_process.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects uncommon "conhost" child processes. This could be a sign of "conhost" usage as a LOLBIN or potential process injection activity.

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection:
    ParentImage|endswith: '\conhost.exe'
filter_main_conhost:
    Image|endswith: ':\Windows\System32\conhost.exe'
filter_main_null:
    Image: null
filter_main_empty:
    Image: ''
filter_optional_provider:
    Provider_Name: 'SystemTraceProvider-Process'  # Race condition with SystemTrace doesn't provide all fields.
condition: selection and not 1 of filter_main_* and not 1 of filter_optional_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unknown

Tags

  • attack.stealth
  • attack.t1202

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

Related rules

References

  • http://www.hexacorn.com/blog/2020/05/25/how-to-con-your-host/

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_conhost_susp_child_process.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Uncommon Child Process Of Conhost.EXE" by omkar72 (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_conhost_susp_child_process.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: Uncommon Child Process Of Conhost.EXE",
entity page, dataset version ref-e3739b3b4018, updated 2023-12-11T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/7dc2dedd-7603-461a-bc13-15803d132355 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 7dc2dedd-7603-461a-bc13-15803d132355, 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.