Sigma rule: Indirect Command Execution

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-7151dddb7771, updated 2023-01-04T00:00:00.000Z.

SigmaHQ marks this rule as deprecated.

Rule

Title
Indirect Command Execution
Status
deprecated
Level
low
Author
E.M. Anhaus (originally from Atomic Blue Detections, Endgame), oscd.community
Date
2019/10/24
Modified
2023/01/04
File
deprecated/windows/proc_creation_win_indirect_cmd.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detect indirect command execution via Program Compatibility Assistant (pcalua.exe or forfiles.exe).

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection:
    ParentImage|endswith:
        - '\pcalua.exe'
        - '\forfiles.exe'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Need to use extra processing with 'unique_count' / 'filter' to focus on outliers as opposed to commonly seen artifacts.
  • Legitimate usage of scripts.

Tags

  • attack.defense_evasion
  • attack.t1202

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/deprecated/windows/proc_creation_win_indirect_cmd.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Indirect Command Execution" by E.M. Anhaus (originally from Atomic Blue Detections, Endgame), oscd.community (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/deprecated/windows/proc_creation_win_indirect_cmd.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: Indirect Command Execution",
entity page, dataset version ref-7151dddb7771, updated 2023-01-04T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/fa47597e-90e9-41cd-ab72-c3b74cfb0d02 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule fa47597e-90e9-41cd-ab72-c3b74cfb0d02, 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.