Sigma rule: Schtasks From Suspicious Folders

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-7ef460a2e13f, updated 2022-11-18T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Schtasks From Suspicious Folders
Status
test
Level
high
Author
Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)
Date
2022-04-15
Modified
2022-11-18
File
rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_schtasks_folder_combos.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects scheduled task creations that have suspicious action command and folder combinations

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection_img:
    - Image|endswith: '\schtasks.exe'
    - OriginalFileName: 'schtasks.exe'
selection_create:
    CommandLine|contains: ' /create '
selection_command:
    CommandLine|contains:
        - 'powershell'
        - 'pwsh'
        - 'cmd /c '
        - 'cmd /k '
        - 'cmd /r '
        - 'cmd.exe /c '
        - 'cmd.exe /k '
        - 'cmd.exe /r '
selection_all_folders:
    CommandLine|contains:
        - 'C:\ProgramData\'
        - '%ProgramData%'
condition: all of selection_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unknown

Tags

  • attack.privilege-escalation
  • attack.persistence
  • attack.execution
  • attack.t1053.005

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_schtasks_folder_combos.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Schtasks From Suspicious Folders" by Florian Roth (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_schtasks_folder_combos.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: Schtasks From Suspicious Folders",
entity page, dataset version ref-7ef460a2e13f, updated 2022-11-18T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/8a8379b8-780b-4dbf-b1e9-31c8d112fefb (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 8a8379b8-780b-4dbf-b1e9-31c8d112fefb, 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.