Sigma rule: FakeUpdates/SocGholish Activity

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-d850bfd66521, updated 2024-08-23T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
FakeUpdates/SocGholish Activity
Status
test
Level
high
Author
@kostastsale
Date
2022-06-16
Modified
2024-08-23
File
rules-emerging-threats/2022/Malware/SocGholish/proc_creation_win_malware_socgholish_fakeupdates_activity.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects initial execution of FakeUpdates/SocGholish malware via wscript that later executes commands via cmd or powershell.

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection:
    ParentImage|endswith: '\wscript.exe'
    ParentCommandLine|contains|all:
        - '\AppData\Local\Temp'
        - '.zip'
        - 'update'
        - '.js'
    ParentCommandLine|contains:
        - 'Chrome'
        - 'Edge'
        - 'Firefox'
        - 'Opera'
        - 'Brave' # Not seen in campaigns
        - 'Vivaldi' # Not seen in campaigns
    Image|endswith:
        - '\cmd.exe'
        - '\powershell.exe'
        - '\pwsh.exe'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unlikely

Tags

  • attack.execution
  • attack.t1059.001
  • detection.emerging-threats

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-emerging-threats/2022/Malware/SocGholish/proc_creation_win_malware_socgholish_fakeupdates_activity.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "FakeUpdates/SocGholish Activity" by @kostastsale (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules-emerging-threats/2022/Malware/SocGholish/proc_creation_win_malware_socgholish_fakeupdates_activity.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: FakeUpdates/SocGholish Activity",
entity page, dataset version ref-d850bfd66521, updated 2024-08-23T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/97805087-93ab-4203-b5cb-287cda6aecaa (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 97805087-93ab-4203-b5cb-287cda6aecaa, 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.