Sigma rule: Rclone Execution via Command Line or PowerShell

Rule

Title

Rclone Execution via Command Line or PowerShell

Status

deprecated

Level

high

Author

Aaron Greetham (@beardofbinary) - NCC Group

Date

2021/05/26

Modified

2022/04/11

File

deprecated/windows/win_susp_rclone_exec.yml

Commit

ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects Rclone which is commonly used by ransomware groups for exfiltration

Log source

product

windows

category

process_creation

Detection

exec_selection:
    Image|endswith: '\rclone.exe'
    ParentImage|endswith:
        - '\PowerShell.exe'
        - '\cmd.exe'
command_selection:
    CommandLine|contains:
        - ' pass '
        - ' user '
        - ' copy '
        - ' mega '
        - ' sync '
        - ' config '
        - ' lsd '
        - ' remote '
        - ' ls '
description_selection:
  Description: 'Rsync for cloud storage'
condition: command_selection and ( description_selection or exec_selection )

False positives (as the rule lists them)

• Legitimate Rclone usage (rare)

Tags

• attack.exfiltration
• attack.t1567.002

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

• T1567.002

References

• https://research.nccgroup.com/2021/05/27/detecting-rclone-an-effective-tool-for-exfiltration/

Read on 2026-11-03T00:58:21.399Z under licence sigma-drl-1.1@d5f4c36a from https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/deprecated/windows/win_susp_rclone_exec.yml