Sigma rule: Invoke-Obfuscation VAR++ LAUNCHER OBFUSCATION

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-f40de6c5a6f0, updated 2022-11-16T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Invoke-Obfuscation VAR++ LAUNCHER OBFUSCATION
Status
test
Level
high
Author
Timur Zinniatullin, oscd.community
Date
2020-10-13
Modified
2022-11-16
File
rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_hktl_invoke_obfuscation_via_var.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects Obfuscated Powershell via VAR++ LAUNCHER

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection:
    # CommandLine|re: '(?i)&&set.*(\{\d\}){2,}\\\"\s+?\-f.*&&.*cmd.*\/c' # FPs with |\/r
    # Example 1: CMD /C"sET KUR=Invoke-Expression (New-Object Net.WebClient).DownloadString&&Set MxI=C:\wINDowS\sYsWow64\winDOWspoWERSheLl\V1.0\PowerShelL.EXe ${ExEcut`IoN`cON`TExT}.\"invo`kEcoMm`A`ND\".( \"{2}{1}{0}\" -f 'pt','EscRi','INvOk' ).Invoke( ( .( \"{0}{1}\" -f'D','IR' ) ( \"{0}{1}\"-f'ENV:kU','R')).\"vAl`Ue\" )&& CMD /C%mXI%"
    # Example 2: c:\WiNDOWS\sYSTEm32\CmD.exE /C "sEt DeJLz=Invoke-Expression (New-Object Net.WebClient).DownloadString&&set yBKM=PoWERShelL -noeX ^^^&(\"{2}{0}{1}\"-f '-ItE','m','seT') ( 'V' + 'a'+ 'RiAblE:z8J' +'U2' + 'l' ) ([TYpE]( \"{2}{3}{0}{1}\"-f 'e','NT','e','NViRONM' ) ) ; ^^^& ( ( [sTrIng]${VE`Rbo`SepReFER`Ence})[1,3] + 'X'-joIN'')( ( (.('gI') ('V' + 'a' + 'RIAbLe:z8j' + 'u2' +'l' ) ).vALUe::( \"{2}{5}{0}{1}{6}{4}{3}\" -f 'IRo','Nm','GETE','ABlE','I','nv','enTVAr').Invoke(( \"{0}{1}\"-f'd','ejLz' ),( \"{1}{2}{0}\"-f'cEss','P','RO') )) )&& c:\WiNDOWS\sYSTEm32\CmD.exE /C %ybkm%"
    CommandLine|contains|all:
        - '&&set'
        - 'cmd'
        - '/c'
        - '-f'
    CommandLine|contains:
        - '{0}'
        - '{1}'
        - '{2}'
        - '{3}'
        - '{4}'
        - '{5}'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unknown

Tags

  • attack.stealth
  • attack.t1027
  • attack.execution
  • attack.t1059.001

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/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_hktl_invoke_obfuscation_via_var.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Invoke-Obfuscation VAR++ LAUNCHER OBFUSCATION" by Timur Zinniatullin, oscd.community (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_hktl_invoke_obfuscation_via_var.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: Invoke-Obfuscation VAR++ LAUNCHER OBFUSCATION",
entity page, dataset version ref-f40de6c5a6f0, updated 2022-11-16T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/e9f55347-2928-4c06-88e5-1a7f8169942e (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule e9f55347-2928-4c06-88e5-1a7f8169942e, 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.