Sigma rule: Finger.EXE Execution

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-8bc5c706a8b6, updated 2024-06-27T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Finger.EXE Execution
Status
test
Level
high
Author
Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), omkar72, oscd.community
Date
2021-02-24
Modified
2024-06-27
File
rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_finger_execution.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects execution of the "finger.exe" utility.
Finger.EXE or "TCPIP Finger Command" is an old utility that is still present on modern Windows installation. It Displays information about users on a specified remote computer (typically a UNIX computer) that is running the finger service or daemon.
Due to the old nature of this utility and the rareness of machines having the finger service. Any execution of "finger.exe" can be considered "suspicious" and worth investigating.

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection:
    - OriginalFileName: 'finger.exe'
    - Image|endswith: '\finger.exe'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Admin activity (unclear what they do nowadays with finger.exe)

Tags

  • attack.command-and-control
  • attack.t1105

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/process_creation/proc_creation_win_finger_execution.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Finger.EXE Execution" by Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), omkar72, oscd.community (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_finger_execution.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: Finger.EXE Execution",
entity page, dataset version ref-8bc5c706a8b6, updated 2024-06-27T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/af491bca-e752-4b44-9c86-df5680533dbc (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule af491bca-e752-4b44-9c86-df5680533dbc, 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.