Sigma rule: PUA - Sysinternals Tools Execution - Registry

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-0c378a3e8c6d, updated 2025-10-26T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
PUA - Sysinternals Tools Execution - Registry
Status
test
Level
medium
Author
Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
Date
2022-08-24
Modified
2025-10-26
File
rules/windows/registry/registry_set/registry_set_pua_sysinternals_susp_execution_via_eula.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects the execution of some potentially unwanted tools such as PsExec, Procdump, etc. (part of the Sysinternals suite) via the creation of the "accepteula" registry key.

Log source

product
windows
category
registry_set

Detection

selection:
    TargetObject|contains:
        - '\Active Directory Explorer'
        - '\Handle'
        - '\LiveKd'
        - '\Process Explorer'
        - '\ProcDump'
        - '\PsExec'
        - '\PsLoglist'
        - '\PsPasswd'
        - '\SDelete'
        - '\Sysinternals' # Global level https://twitter.com/leonzandman/status/1561736801953382400
    TargetObject|endswith: '\EulaAccepted'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Legitimate use of SysInternals tools. Filter the legitimate paths used in your environment

Tags

  • attack.resource-development
  • attack.t1588.002

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/registry/registry_set/registry_set_pua_sysinternals_susp_execution_via_eula.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "PUA - Sysinternals Tools Execution - Registry" by Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/registry/registry_set/registry_set_pua_sysinternals_susp_execution_via_eula.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: PUA - Sysinternals Tools Execution - Registry",
entity page, dataset version ref-0c378a3e8c6d, updated 2025-10-26T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/c7da8edc-49ae-45a2-9e61-9fd860e4e73d (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule c7da8edc-49ae-45a2-9e61-9fd860e4e73d, 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.