Sigma rule: New User Created Via Net.EXE

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-beac44f48595, updated 2023-02-21T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
New User Created Via Net.EXE
Status
test
Level
medium
Author
Endgame, JHasenbusch (adapted to Sigma for oscd.community)
Date
2018-10-30
Modified
2023-02-21
File
rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_net_user_add.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Identifies the creation of local users via the net.exe command.

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection_img:
    - Image|endswith:
          - '\net.exe'
          - '\net1.exe'
    - OriginalFileName:
          - 'net.exe'
          - 'net1.exe'
selection_cli:
    CommandLine|contains|all:
        - 'user'
        - 'add'
condition: all of selection_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Legitimate user creation.
  • Better use event IDs for user creation rather than command line rules.

Tags

  • attack.persistence
  • attack.t1136.001

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/process_creation/proc_creation_win_net_user_add.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "New User Created Via Net.EXE" by Endgame, JHasenbusch (adapted to Sigma for oscd.community) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_net_user_add.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: New User Created Via Net.EXE",
entity page, dataset version ref-beac44f48595, updated 2023-02-21T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/cd219ff3-fa99-45d4-8380-a7d15116c6dc (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule cd219ff3-fa99-45d4-8380-a7d15116c6dc, 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.