Sigma rule: Remotely Hosted HTA File Executed Via Mshta.EXE

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-91b16ac678ec, updated 2023-02-06T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title: Remotely Hosted HTA File Executed Via Mshta.EXE
Status: test
Level: high
Author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
Date: 2022-08-08
Modified: 2023-02-06
File: rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_mshta_http.yml
Commit: ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects execution of the "mshta" utility with an argument containing the "http" keyword, which could indicate that an attacker is executing a remotely hosted malicious hta file

Log source

product: windows
category: process_creation

Detection

selection_img:
    - Image|endswith: '\mshta.exe'
    - OriginalFileName: 'MSHTA.EXE'
selection_cli:
    CommandLine|contains:
        - 'http://'
        - 'https://'
        - 'ftp://'
condition: all of selection_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

Unknown

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

T1218.005

References

https://www.trendmicro.com/en_us/research/22/e/avoslocker-ransomware-variant-abuses-driver-file-to-disable-anti-Virus-scans-log4shell.html

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_mshta_http.yml

Sources and licences

SigmaHQ
"Remotely Hosted HTA File Executed Via Mshta.EXE" by Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_mshta_http.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: Remotely Hosted HTA File Executed Via Mshta.EXE",
entity page, dataset version ref-91b16ac678ec, updated 2023-02-06T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/b98d0db6-511d-45de-ad02-e82a98729620 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule b98d0db6-511d-45de-ad02-e82a98729620, 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.