Sigma rule: Rar Usage with Password and Compression Level

Rule

Title

Rar Usage with Password and Compression Level

Status

test

Level

high

Author

@ROxPinTeddy

Date

2020-05-12

Modified

2022-03-16

File

rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_rar_compression_with_password.yml

Commit

ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects the use of rar.exe, on the command line, to create an archive with password protection or with a specific compression level. This is pretty indicative of malicious actions.

Log source

product

windows

category

process_creation

Detection

selection_password:
    CommandLine|contains: ' -hp'
selection_other:
    CommandLine|contains:
        - ' -m'
        - ' a '
condition: selection_password and selection_other

False positives (as the rule lists them)

• Legitimate use of Winrar command line version
• Other command line tools, that use these flags

Tags

• attack.collection
• attack.t1560.001

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

• T1560.001

References

• https://labs.sentinelone.com/the-anatomy-of-an-apt-attack-and-cobaltstrike-beacons-encoded-configuration/
• https://ss64.com/bash/rar.html
• https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/f339e7da7d05f6057fdfcdd3742bfcf365fee2a9/atomics/T1560.001/T1560.001.md

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_rar_compression_with_password.yml