Sigma rule: Potential CVE-2023-36874 Exploitation - Fake Wermgr.Exe Creation

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-ec4d9a224087, updated 2025-01-13T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title: Potential CVE-2023-36874 Exploitation - Fake Wermgr.Exe Creation
Status: test
Level: high
Author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
Date: 2023-08-23
Modified: 2025-01-13
File: rules-emerging-threats/2023/Exploits/CVE-2023-36874/file_event_win_exploit_cve_2023_36874_wermgr_creation.yml
Commit: ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects the creation of a file named "wermgr.exe" being created in an uncommon directory. This could be a sign of potential exploitation of CVE-2023-36874.

Log source

product: windows
category: file_event

Detection

selection:
    TargetFilename|endswith: '\wermgr.exe'
filter_main_locations:
    TargetFilename|contains:
        - ':\$WINDOWS.~BT\NewOS\'
        - ':\$WinREAgent\' # From "wuauclt.exe"
        - ':\Windows\servicing\LCU\'
        - ':\Windows\System32\'
        - ':\Windows\SysWOW64\'
        - ':\Windows\WinSxS\'
        - ':\WUDownloadCache\' # Windows Update Download Cache
        - ':\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download\'
condition: selection and not 1 of filter_main_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

Unknown

CVEs this rule names

CVE-2023-36874

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/Exploits/CVE-2023-36874/file_event_win_exploit_cve_2023_36874_wermgr_creation.yml

Sources and licences

SigmaHQ
"Potential CVE-2023-36874 Exploitation - Fake Wermgr.Exe Creation" by Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules-emerging-threats/2023/Exploits/CVE-2023-36874/file_event_win_exploit_cve_2023_36874_wermgr_creation.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: Potential CVE-2023-36874 Exploitation - Fake Wermgr.Exe Creation",
entity page, dataset version ref-ec4d9a224087, updated 2025-01-13T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/ad0960eb-0015-4d16-be13-b3d9f18f1342 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule ad0960eb-0015-4d16-be13-b3d9f18f1342, 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.