Sigma rule: COLDSTEEL RAT Service Persistence Execution

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-a1ac9a373777, updated 2023-04-30T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
COLDSTEEL RAT Service Persistence Execution
Status
test
Level
critical
Author
X__Junior (Nextron Systems)
Date
2023-04-30
File
rules-emerging-threats/2023/Malware/COLDSTEEL/proc_creation_win_malware_coldsteel_service_persistence.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects the creation of an "svchost" process with specific command line flags, that were seen present and used by ColdSteel RAT

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection:
    Image|endswith: '\svchost.exe'
    CommandLine|endswith:
        - ' -k msupdate'
        - ' -k msupdate2'
        - ' -k alg'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unlikely

Tags

  • attack.persistence
  • detection.emerging-threats
  • attack.stealth

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/2023/Malware/COLDSTEEL/proc_creation_win_malware_coldsteel_service_persistence.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "COLDSTEEL RAT Service Persistence Execution" by X__Junior (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules-emerging-threats/2023/Malware/COLDSTEEL/proc_creation_win_malware_coldsteel_service_persistence.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: COLDSTEEL RAT Service Persistence Execution",
entity page, dataset version ref-a1ac9a373777, updated 2023-04-30T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/9f9cd389-cea0-4142-bf1a-a3fd424abedd (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 9f9cd389-cea0-4142-bf1a-a3fd424abedd, 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.