Sigma rule: Bypass UAC via WSReset.exe

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-6f8d7e21ff6d, updated 2022-05-13T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Bypass UAC via WSReset.exe
Status
test
Level
high
Author
E.M. Anhaus (originally from Atomic Blue Detections, Tony Lambert), oscd.community, Florian Roth
Date
2019-10-24
Modified
2022-05-13
File
rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_uac_bypass_wsreset.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects use of WSReset.exe to bypass User Account Control (UAC). Adversaries use this technique to execute privileged processes.

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection:
    ParentImage|endswith: '\wsreset.exe'
filter:
    - Image|endswith: '\conhost.exe'
    - OriginalFileName: 'CONHOST.EXE'
condition: selection and not filter

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unknown sub processes of Wsreset.exe

Tags

  • attack.privilege-escalation
  • attack.t1548.002

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

Related rules

  • bdc8918e-a1d5-49d1-9db7-ea0fd91aa2ae (obsolete)

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_uac_bypass_wsreset.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Bypass UAC via WSReset.exe" by E.M. Anhaus (originally from Atomic Blue Detections, Tony Lambert), oscd.community, Florian Roth (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_uac_bypass_wsreset.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: Bypass UAC via WSReset.exe",
entity page, dataset version ref-6f8d7e21ff6d, updated 2022-05-13T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/d797268e-28a9-49a7-b9a8-2f5039011c5c (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule d797268e-28a9-49a7-b9a8-2f5039011c5c, 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.