Sigma rule: Potential KamiKakaBot Activity - Winlogon Shell Persistence

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-d391e712b7cc, updated 2024-03-22T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Potential KamiKakaBot Activity - Winlogon Shell Persistence
Status
test
Level
high
Author
Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems), X__Junior
Date
2024-03-22
File
rules-emerging-threats/2024/Malware/KamiKakaBot/registry_set_malware_kamikakabot_winlogon_persistence.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects changes to the "Winlogon" registry key where a process will set the value of the "Shell" to a value that was observed being used by KamiKakaBot samples in order to achieve persistence.

Log source

product
windows
category
registry_set

Detection

selection:
    TargetObject|endswith: '\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Shell'
    Details|contains|all:
        - '-nop -w h'
        - '$env'
        - 'explorer.exe'
        - 'Start-Process'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unlikely

Tags

  • attack.privilege-escalation
  • attack.persistence
  • attack.t1547.001
  • detection.emerging-threats

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-emerging-threats/2024/Malware/KamiKakaBot/registry_set_malware_kamikakabot_winlogon_persistence.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Potential KamiKakaBot Activity - Winlogon Shell Persistence" by Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems), X__Junior (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules-emerging-threats/2024/Malware/KamiKakaBot/registry_set_malware_kamikakabot_winlogon_persistence.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: Potential KamiKakaBot Activity - Winlogon Shell Persistence",
entity page, dataset version ref-d391e712b7cc, updated 2024-03-22T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/c9b86500-1ec2-4de6-9120-d744c8fb5caf (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule c9b86500-1ec2-4de6-9120-d744c8fb5caf, 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.