Sigma rule: ZxShell Malware

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-8fca455b1167, updated 2021-11-27T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title: ZxShell Malware
Status: test
Level: critical
Author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), oscd.community, Jonhnathan Ribeiro
Date: 2017-07-20
Modified: 2021-11-27
File: rules-emerging-threats/2014/TA/Axiom/proc_creation_win_apt_zxshell.yml
Commit: ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects a ZxShell start by the called and well-known function name

Log source

product: windows
category: process_creation

Detection

selection:
    Image|endswith: '\rundll32.exe'
    CommandLine|contains:
        - 'zxFunction'
        - 'RemoteDiskXXXXX'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

Unlikely

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/2014/TA/Axiom/proc_creation_win_apt_zxshell.yml

Sources and licences

SigmaHQ
"ZxShell Malware" by Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), oscd.community, Jonhnathan Ribeiro (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules-emerging-threats/2014/TA/Axiom/proc_creation_win_apt_zxshell.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: ZxShell Malware",
entity page, dataset version ref-8fca455b1167, updated 2021-11-27T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/f0b70adb-0075-43b0-9745-e82a1c608fcc (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule f0b70adb-0075-43b0-9745-e82a1c608fcc, 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.