Sigma rule: Use Of The SFTP.EXE Binary As A LOLBIN

Rule

Title

Use Of The SFTP.EXE Binary As A LOLBIN

Status

test

Level

medium

Author

Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)

Date

2022-11-10

File

rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_lolbin_sftp.yml

Commit

ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects the usage of the "sftp.exe" binary as a LOLBIN by abusing the "-D" flag

Log source

product

windows

category

process_creation

Detection

selection:
    Image|endswith: '\sftp.exe' # The "sftp.exe" located in the OpenSSH directory has no OriginalFileName :(
    CommandLine|contains:
        # Since "-D" is a valid flag for other usage we assume the user is going to enter a path
        # Either a full one like "C:\Windows\System32\calc.exe" or a relative one "..\..\..\Windows\System32\calc.exe"
        # In my testing you can't execute direct binaries by their name via this method (if you found a way please update the rule)
        - ' -D ..'
        - ' -D C:\'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

• Unknown

Tags

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

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

• T1218

References

• https://github.com/LOLBAS-Project/LOLBAS/pull/264

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_lolbin_sftp.yml