Sigma rule: DNS Query To Visual Studio Code Tunnels Domain

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-650543c86e2f, updated 2023-11-20T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
DNS Query To Visual Studio Code Tunnels Domain
Status
test
Level
medium
Author
citron_ninja
Date
2023-10-25
Modified
2023-11-20
File
rules/windows/dns_query/dns_query_win_vscode_tunnel_communication.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects DNS query requests to Visual Studio Code tunnel 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: '.tunnels.api.visualstudio.com'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Legitimate use of Visual Studio Code tunnel will also trigger this.

Tags

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

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_vscode_tunnel_communication.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "DNS Query To Visual Studio Code Tunnels Domain" by citron_ninja (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/dns_query/dns_query_win_vscode_tunnel_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: DNS Query To Visual Studio Code Tunnels Domain",
entity page, dataset version ref-650543c86e2f, updated 2023-11-20T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/b3e6418f-7c7a-4fad-993a-93b65027a9f1 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule b3e6418f-7c7a-4fad-993a-93b65027a9f1, 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.