Sigma rule: Potential Emotet Activity

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-d224461ba7d8, updated 2023-02-04T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Potential Emotet Activity
Status
stable
Level
high
Author
Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)
Date
2019-09-30
Modified
2023-02-04
File
rules-emerging-threats/2019/Malware/Emotet/proc_creation_win_malware_emotet.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects all Emotet like process executions that are not covered by the more generic rules

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection:
    CommandLine|contains:
        - ' -e* PAA'
        - 'JABlAG4AdgA6AHUAcwBlAHIAcAByAG8AZgBpAGwAZQ' # $env:userprofile
        - 'QAZQBuAHYAOgB1AHMAZQByAHAAcgBvAGYAaQBsAGUA' # $env:userprofile
        - 'kAGUAbgB2ADoAdQBzAGUAcgBwAHIAbwBmAGkAbABlA' # $env:userprofile
        - 'IgAoACcAKgAnACkAOwAkA' # "('*');$
        - 'IAKAAnACoAJwApADsAJA' # "('*');$
        - 'iACgAJwAqACcAKQA7ACQA' # "('*');$
        - 'JABGAGwAeAByAGgAYwBmAGQ'
        - 'PQAkAGUAbgB2ADoAdABlAG0AcAArACgA' # =$env:temp+(
        - '0AJABlAG4AdgA6AHQAZQBtAHAAKwAoA' # =$env:temp+(
        - '9ACQAZQBuAHYAOgB0AGUAbQBwACsAKA' # =$env:temp+(
filter:
    CommandLine|contains:
        - 'fAAgAEMAbwBuAHYAZQByAHQAVABvAC0ASgBzAG8AbgAgAC0ARQByAHIAbwByAEEAYwB0AGkAbwBuACAAUwBpAGwAZQBuAHQAbAB5AEMAbwBuAHQAaQBuAHUAZQ'
        - 'wAIABDAG8AbgB2AGUAcgB0AFQAbwAtAEoAcwBvAG4AIAAtAEUAcgByAG8AcgBBAGMAdABpAG8AbgAgAFMAaQBsAGUAbgB0AGwAeQBDAG8AbgB0AGkAbgB1AGUA'
        - '8ACAAQwBvAG4AdgBlAHIAdABUAG8ALQBKAHMAbwBuACAALQBFAHIAcgBvAHIAQQBjAHQAaQBvAG4AIABTAGkAbABlAG4AdABsAHkAQwBvAG4AdABpAG4AdQBlA'
condition: selection and not filter

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unlikely

Tags

  • attack.execution
  • attack.stealth
  • attack.t1059.001
  • attack.t1027
  • 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/2019/Malware/Emotet/proc_creation_win_malware_emotet.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Potential Emotet Activity" by Florian Roth (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules-emerging-threats/2019/Malware/Emotet/proc_creation_win_malware_emotet.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 Emotet Activity",
entity page, dataset version ref-d224461ba7d8, updated 2023-02-04T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/d02e8cf5-6099-48cf-9bfc-1eec2d0c7b18 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule d02e8cf5-6099-48cf-9bfc-1eec2d0c7b18, 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.