Sigma rule: Potential PowerShell Execution Policy Tampering - ProcCreation

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-bf682e176dae, updated 2023-01-11T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title: Potential PowerShell Execution Policy Tampering - ProcCreation
Status: test
Level: high
Author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
Date: 2023-01-11
File: rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_registry_set_unsecure_powershell_policy.yml
Commit: ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects changes to the PowerShell execution policy registry key in order to bypass signing requirements for script execution from the CommandLine

Log source

product: windows
category: process_creation

Detection

selection_path:
    CommandLine|contains:
        - '\ShellIds\Microsoft.PowerShell\ExecutionPolicy'
        - '\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\PowerShell\ExecutionPolicy'
selection_values:
    CommandLine|contains:
        - 'Bypass'
        - 'RemoteSigned'
        - 'Unrestricted'
condition: all of selection_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

Unknown

Related rules

References

https://learn.microsoft.com/de-de/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.security/set-executionpolicy?view=powershell-7.3

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_registry_set_unsecure_powershell_policy.yml

Sources and licences

SigmaHQ
"Potential PowerShell Execution Policy Tampering - ProcCreation" by Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_registry_set_unsecure_powershell_policy.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 PowerShell Execution Policy Tampering - ProcCreation",
entity page, dataset version ref-bf682e176dae, updated 2023-01-11T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/cf2e938e-9a3e-4fe8-a347-411642b28a9f (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule cf2e938e-9a3e-4fe8-a347-411642b28a9f, 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.