Sigma rule: HackTool - Covenant PowerShell Launcher

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-32b2ffcc0938, updated 2023-02-21T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
HackTool - Covenant PowerShell Launcher
Status
test
Level
high
Author
Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), Jonhnathan Ribeiro, oscd.community
Date
2020-06-04
Modified
2023-02-21
File
rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_hktl_covenant.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects suspicious command lines used in Covenant luanchers

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection_1:
    CommandLine|contains|all:
        - '-Sta'
        - '-Nop'
        - '-Window'
        - 'Hidden'
    CommandLine|contains:
        - '-Command'
        - '-EncodedCommand'
selection_2:
    CommandLine|contains:
        - 'sv o (New-Object IO.MemorySteam);sv d '
        - 'mshta file.hta'
        - 'GruntHTTP'
        - '-EncodedCommand cwB2ACAAbwAgA'
condition: 1 of selection_*

Tags

  • attack.execution
  • attack.stealth
  • attack.t1059.001
  • attack.t1564.003

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

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_hktl_covenant.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "HackTool - Covenant PowerShell Launcher" by Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), Jonhnathan Ribeiro, oscd.community (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_hktl_covenant.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: HackTool - Covenant PowerShell Launcher",
entity page, dataset version ref-32b2ffcc0938, updated 2023-02-21T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/c260b6db-48ba-4b4a-a76f-2f67644e99d2 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule c260b6db-48ba-4b4a-a76f-2f67644e99d2, 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.