Sigma rule: Cloudflared Tunnels Related DNS Requests

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-b81b39d00708, updated 2023-12-20T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Cloudflared Tunnels Related DNS Requests
Status
test
Level
medium
Author
Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
Date
2023-12-20
File
rules/windows/dns_query/dns_query_win_cloudflared_communication.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects DNS requests to Cloudflared tunnels domains.
Attackers can abuse that feature to establish a reverse shell or persistence on a machine.

Log source

product
windows
category
dns_query

Detection

selection:
    QueryName|endswith:
        - '.v2.argotunnel.com'
        - 'protocol-v2.argotunnel.com'
        - 'trycloudflare.com'
        - 'update.argotunnel.com'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Legitimate use of cloudflare tunnels will also trigger this.

Tags

  • attack.command-and-control
  • attack.t1071.001
  • attack.t1572

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

Related rules

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/dns_query/dns_query_win_cloudflared_communication.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Cloudflared Tunnels Related DNS Requests" by Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/dns_query/dns_query_win_cloudflared_communication.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: Cloudflared Tunnels Related DNS Requests",
entity page, dataset version ref-b81b39d00708, updated 2023-12-20T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/a1d9eec5-33b2-4177-8d24-27fe754d0812 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule a1d9eec5-33b2-4177-8d24-27fe754d0812, 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.