Sigma rule: Arbitrary MSI Download Via Devinit.EXE

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-2769ef38ba19, updated 2023-04-06T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Arbitrary MSI Download Via Devinit.EXE
Status
test
Level
medium
Author
Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)
Date
2022-01-11
Modified
2023-04-06
File
rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_devinit_lolbin_usage.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects a certain command line flag combination used by "devinit.exe", which can be abused as a LOLBIN to download arbitrary MSI packages on a Windows system

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection:
    CommandLine|contains|all:
        - ' -t msi-install '
        - ' -i http'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unknown

Tags

  • attack.execution
  • attack.stealth
  • attack.t1218

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_devinit_lolbin_usage.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Arbitrary MSI Download Via Devinit.EXE" by Florian Roth (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_devinit_lolbin_usage.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: Arbitrary MSI Download Via Devinit.EXE",
entity page, dataset version ref-2769ef38ba19, updated 2023-04-06T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/90d50722-0483-4065-8e35-57efaadd354d (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 90d50722-0483-4065-8e35-57efaadd354d, 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.