Sigma rule: HackTool - SharpImpersonation Execution

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-30e4cdecd5a6, updated 2023-02-13T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
HackTool - SharpImpersonation Execution
Status
test
Level
high
Author
Sai Prashanth Pulisetti @pulisettis, Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
Date
2022-12-27
Modified
2023-02-13
File
rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_hktl_sharp_impersonation.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects execution of the SharpImpersonation tool. Which can be used to manipulate tokens on a Windows computers remotely (PsExec/WmiExec) or interactively

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection_img:
    - Image|endswith: '\SharpImpersonation.exe'
    - OriginalFileName: 'SharpImpersonation.exe'
selection_cli:
    - CommandLine|contains|all:
          - ' user:'
          - ' binary:'
    - CommandLine|contains|all:
          - ' user:'
          - ' shellcode:'
    - CommandLine|contains:
          - ' technique:CreateProcessAsUserW'
          - ' technique:ImpersonateLoggedOnuser'
condition: 1 of selection_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unknown

Tags

  • attack.privilege-escalation
  • attack.stealth
  • attack.t1134.001
  • attack.t1134.003

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_hktl_sharp_impersonation.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "HackTool - SharpImpersonation Execution" by Sai Prashanth Pulisetti @pulisettis, Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_hktl_sharp_impersonation.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: HackTool - SharpImpersonation Execution",
entity page, dataset version ref-30e4cdecd5a6, updated 2023-02-13T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/f89b08d0-77ad-4728-817b-9b16c5a69c7a (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule f89b08d0-77ad-4728-817b-9b16c5a69c7a, 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.