Sigma rule: Potential Remote Desktop Tunneling

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-5a24015cf128, updated 2022-09-27T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Potential Remote Desktop Tunneling
Status
test
Level
medium
Author
Tim Rauch, Elastic (idea)
Date
2022-09-27
File
rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_susp_remote_desktop_tunneling.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects potential use of an SSH utility to establish RDP over a reverse SSH Tunnel. This can be used by attackers to enable routing of network packets that would otherwise not reach their intended destination.

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection:
    CommandLine|contains: ':3389' # RDP port and usual SSH tunneling related switches in command line
selection_opt:
    CommandLine|contains:
        - ' -L '
        - ' -P '
        - ' -R '
        - ' -pw '
        - ' -ssh '
condition: all of selection*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unknown

Tags

  • attack.lateral-movement
  • attack.t1021

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

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_susp_remote_desktop_tunneling.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Potential Remote Desktop Tunneling" by Tim Rauch, Elastic (idea) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_susp_remote_desktop_tunneling.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: Potential Remote Desktop Tunneling",
entity page, dataset version ref-5a24015cf128, updated 2022-09-27T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/8a3038e8-9c9d-46f8-b184-66234a160f6f (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 8a3038e8-9c9d-46f8-b184-66234a160f6f, 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.