Sigma rule: Potential RDP Tunneling Via Plink

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-60a0e20d6da4, updated 2023-01-27T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Potential RDP Tunneling Via Plink
Status
test
Level
high
Author
Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)
Date
2022-08-04
Modified
2023-01-27
File
rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_plink_susp_tunneling.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Execution of plink to perform data exfiltration and tunneling

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection_a:
    Image|endswith: '\plink.exe'
    CommandLine|contains: ':127.0.0.1:3389'
selection_b1:
    Image|endswith: '\plink.exe'
    CommandLine|contains: ':3389'
selection_b2:
    CommandLine|contains:
        - ' -P 443'
        - ' -P 22'
condition: selection_a or all of selection_b*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unknown

Tags

  • attack.command-and-control
  • attack.t1572

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

Related rules

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_plink_susp_tunneling.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Potential RDP Tunneling Via Plink" by Florian Roth (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_plink_susp_tunneling.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: Potential RDP Tunneling Via Plink",
entity page, dataset version ref-60a0e20d6da4, updated 2023-01-27T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/f38ce0b9-5e97-4b47-a211-7dc8d8b871da (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule f38ce0b9-5e97-4b47-a211-7dc8d8b871da, 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.