Sigma rule: Potentially Suspicious Office Document Executed From Trusted Location

Rule

Title

Potentially Suspicious Office Document Executed From Trusted Location

Status

test

Level

high

Author

Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)

Date

2023-06-21

Modified

2023-10-18

File

rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_office_exec_from_trusted_locations.yml

Commit

ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects the execution of an Office application that points to a document that is located in a trusted location. Attackers often used this to avoid macro security and execute their malicious code.

Log source

product

windows

category

process_creation

Detection

selection_parent:
    # Note: we add a parent shell to reduce FP. Add additional 3rd party shells that you might use
    ParentImage|endswith:
        - '\explorer.exe'
        - '\dopus.exe'
selection_img:
    - Image|endswith:
          - '\EXCEL.EXE'
          - '\POWERPNT.EXE'
          - '\WINWORD.exe'
    - OriginalFileName:
          - 'Excel.exe'
          - 'POWERPNT.EXE'
          - 'WinWord.exe'
selection_trusted_location:
    CommandLine|contains:
        # Note: these are the default locations. Admins/Users could add additional ones that you need to cover
        - '\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates'
        - '\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Word\Startup\'
        - '\Microsoft Office\root\Templates\'
        - '\Microsoft Office\Templates\'
filter_main_dotx:
    # Note: We add this filter to avoid curious people clicking on template files
    CommandLine|endswith:
        - '.dotx'
        - '.xltx'
        - '.potx'
condition: all of selection_* and not 1 of filter_main_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

• Unknown

Tags

• attack.stealth
• attack.t1202

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

• T1202

References

• Internal Research
• https://twitter.com/Max_Mal_/status/1633863678909874176
• https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-365-blog/new-security-hardening-policies-for-trusted-documents/ba-p/3023465
• https://twitter.com/_JohnHammond/status/1588155401752788994

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_office_exec_from_trusted_locations.yml