Sigma rule: PUA - DefenderCheck Execution

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-d7fbe23f60c9, updated 2023-02-04T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
PUA - DefenderCheck Execution
Status
test
Level
high
Author
Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)
Date
2022-08-30
Modified
2023-02-04
File
rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_pua_defendercheck.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects the use of DefenderCheck, a tool to evaluate the signatures used in Microsoft Defender. It can be used to figure out the strings / byte chains used in Microsoft Defender to detect a tool and thus used for AV evasion.

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection:
    - Image|endswith: '\DefenderCheck.exe'
    - Description: 'DefenderCheck'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unlikely

Tags

  • attack.stealth
  • attack.t1027.005

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_pua_defendercheck.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "PUA - DefenderCheck Execution" by Florian Roth (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_pua_defendercheck.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: PUA - DefenderCheck Execution",
entity page, dataset version ref-d7fbe23f60c9, updated 2023-02-04T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/f0ca6c24-3225-47d5-b1f5-352bf07ecfa7 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule f0ca6c24-3225-47d5-b1f5-352bf07ecfa7, 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.