Sigma rule: Indirect Command Exectuion via Forfiles

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-a2eaaca968b2, updated 2023-01-04T00:00:00.000Z.

SigmaHQ marks this rule as deprecated.

Rule

Title
Indirect Command Exectuion via Forfiles
Status
deprecated
Level
medium
Author
Tim Rauch (rule), Elastic (idea), E.M. Anhaus (originally from Atomic Blue Detections, Endgame), oscd.community
Date
2022/10/17
Modified
2023/01/04
File
deprecated/windows/proc_creation_win_indirect_command_execution_forfiles.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects execition of commands and binaries from the context of "forfiles.exe". This can be used as a LOLBIN in order to bypass application whitelisting.

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection_parent:
    ParentImage|endswith: '\forfiles.exe'
selection_c:
    ParentCommandLine|contains:
        - ' /c '
        - ' -c '
selection_p:
    ParentCommandLine|contains:
        - ' /p '
        - ' -p '
selection_m:
    ParentCommandLine|contains:
        - ' /m '
        - ' -m '
filter:
    Image|endswith: '\cmd.exe'
    CommandLine|contains|all:
        - 'xcopy'
        - 'cmd /c del'
condition: all of selection_* and not filter

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unknown

Tags

  • attack.defense_evasion
  • attack.t1202

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/deprecated/windows/proc_creation_win_indirect_command_execution_forfiles.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Indirect Command Exectuion via Forfiles" by Tim Rauch (rule), Elastic (idea), E.M. Anhaus (originally from Atomic Blue Detections, Endgame), oscd.community (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/deprecated/windows/proc_creation_win_indirect_command_execution_forfiles.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: Indirect Command Exectuion via Forfiles",
entity page, dataset version ref-a2eaaca968b2, updated 2023-01-04T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/a85cf4e3-56ee-4e79-adeb-789f8fb209a8 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule a85cf4e3-56ee-4e79-adeb-789f8fb209a8, 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.