Sigma rule: Chromium Browser Instance Executed With Custom Extension

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-3cff24fbfb64, updated 2023-11-28T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Chromium Browser Instance Executed With Custom Extension
Status
test
Level
medium
Author
Aedan Russell, frack113, X__Junior (Nextron Systems)
Date
2022-06-19
Modified
2023-11-28
File
rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_browsers_chromium_load_extension.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects a Chromium based browser process with the 'load-extension' flag to start a instance with a custom extension

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection:
    Image|endswith:
        - '\brave.exe'
        - '\chrome.exe'
        - '\msedge.exe'
        - '\opera.exe'
        - '\vivaldi.exe'
    CommandLine|contains: '--load-extension='
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Usage of Chrome Extensions in testing tools such as BurpSuite will trigger this alert

Tags

  • attack.persistence
  • attack.t1176.001

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/process_creation/proc_creation_win_browsers_chromium_load_extension.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Chromium Browser Instance Executed With Custom Extension" by Aedan Russell, frack113, X__Junior (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_browsers_chromium_load_extension.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: Chromium Browser Instance Executed With Custom Extension",
entity page, dataset version ref-3cff24fbfb64, updated 2023-11-28T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/88d6e60c-759d-4ac1-a447-c0f1466c2d21 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 88d6e60c-759d-4ac1-a447-c0f1466c2d21, 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.