Sigma rule: HackTool - SharpDPAPI Execution

Rule

Title

HackTool - SharpDPAPI Execution

Status

test

Level

high

Author

Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)

Date

2024-06-26

File

rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_hktl_sharp_dpapi_execution.yml

Commit

ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects the execution of the SharpDPAPI tool based on CommandLine flags and PE metadata.
SharpDPAPI is a C# port of some DPAPI functionality from the Mimikatz project.

Log source

product

windows

category

process_creation

Detection

selection_img:
    - Image|endswith: '\SharpDPAPI.exe'
    - OriginalFileName: 'SharpDPAPI.exe'
selection_other_cli:
    CommandLine|contains:
        - ' backupkey '
        - ' blob '
        - ' certificates '
        - ' credentials '
        - ' keepass '
        - ' masterkeys '
        - ' rdg '
        - ' vaults '
selection_other_options_guid:
    CommandLine|contains|all:
        - ' {'
        - '}:'
selection_other_options_flags:
    CommandLine|contains:
        - ' /file:'
        - ' /machine'
        - ' /mkfile:'
        - ' /password:'
        - ' /pvk:'
        - ' /server:'
        - ' /target:'
        - ' /unprotect'
condition: selection_img or (selection_other_cli and 1 of selection_other_options_*)

False positives (as the rule lists them)

• Unknown

Tags

• attack.privilege-escalation
• attack.stealth
• attack.t1134.001
• attack.t1134.003

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

• T1134.001
• T1134.003

References

• https://github.com/GhostPack/SharpDPAPI

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_sharp_dpapi_execution.yml