Sigma rule: MSSQL XPCmdshell Option Change

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-8cd282426c0a, updated 2024-06-26T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
MSSQL XPCmdshell Option Change
Status
test
Level
high
Author
Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
Date
2022-07-12
Modified
2024-06-26
File
rules/windows/builtin/application/mssqlserver/win_mssql_xp_cmdshell_change.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects when the MSSQL "xp_cmdshell" stored procedure setting is changed.

Log source

product
windows
service
application

Detection

selection:
    Provider_Name|contains: 'MSSQL' # Note: We use contains to account for other third party providers - See https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/issues/4876
    EventID: 15457
    Data|contains: 'xp_cmdshell'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Legitimate enable/disable of the setting
  • Note that since the event contain the change for both values. This means that this will trigger on both enable and disable

Tags

  • attack.execution

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/builtin/application/mssqlserver/win_mssql_xp_cmdshell_change.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "MSSQL XPCmdshell Option Change" by Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/builtin/application/mssqlserver/win_mssql_xp_cmdshell_change.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: MSSQL XPCmdshell Option Change",
entity page, dataset version ref-8cd282426c0a, updated 2024-06-26T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/d08dd86f-681e-4a00-a92c-1db218754417 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule d08dd86f-681e-4a00-a92c-1db218754417, 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.