Sigma rule: Forest Blizzard APT - File Creation Activity

Rule

Title

Forest Blizzard APT - File Creation Activity

Status

test

Level

high

Author

Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)

Date

2024-04-23

Modified

2024-07-11

File

rules-emerging-threats/2024/TA/Forest-Blizzard/file_event_win_apt_forest_blizzard_activity.yml

Commit

ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects the creation of specific files inside of ProgramData directory.
These files were seen being created by Forest Blizzard as described by MSFT.

Log source

product

windows

category

file_event

Detection

selection_programdata_driver_store:
    TargetFilename|startswith:
        - 'C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\v'
        - 'C:\ProgramData\Adobe\v'
        - 'C:\ProgramData\Comms\v'
        - 'C:\ProgramData\Intel\v'
        - 'C:\ProgramData\Kaspersky Lab\v'
        - 'C:\ProgramData\Bitdefender\v'
        - 'C:\ProgramData\ESET\v'
        - 'C:\ProgramData\NVIDIA\v'
        - 'C:\ProgramData\UbiSoft\v'
        - 'C:\ProgramData\Steam\v'
    TargetFilename|contains:
        - '\prnms003.inf_'
        - '\prnms009.inf_'
selection_programdata_main:
    TargetFilename|startswith: 'C:\ProgramData\'
selection_programdata_files_1:
    TargetFilename|endswith:
        - '.save'
        - '\doit.bat'
        - '\execute.bat'
        - '\servtask.bat'
    # Hashes|contains: '7d51e5cc51c43da5deae5fbc2dce9b85c0656c465bb25ab6bd063a503c1806a9' # Uncommon this if you collect hash information inf file events
selection_programdata_files_2:
    TargetFilename|contains: '\wayzgoose'
    TargetFilename|endswith: '.dll'
condition: selection_programdata_driver_store or (selection_programdata_main and 1 of selection_programdata_files_*)

False positives (as the rule lists them)

• Unlikely

Tags

• attack.defense-impairment
• attack.t1685.001
• detection.emerging-threats

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

• T1685.001

References

• https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2024/04/22/analyzing-forest-blizzards-custom-post-compromise-tool-for-exploiting-cve-2022-38028-to-obtain-credentials/

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/2024/TA/Forest-Blizzard/file_event_win_apt_forest_blizzard_activity.yml