Sigma rule: .RDP File Created By Uncommon Application

Rule

Title

.RDP File Created By Uncommon Application

Status

test

Level

high

Author

Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)

Date

2023-04-18

Modified

2024-11-01

File

rules/windows/file/file_event/file_event_win_rdp_file_susp_creation.yml

Commit

ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects creation of a file with an ".rdp" extension by an application that doesn't commonly create such files.

Log source

product

windows

category

file_event

Detection

selection:
    TargetFilename|endswith: '.rdp'
    Image|endswith:
        # Covers browsers
        - '\brave.exe'
        - '\CCleaner Browser\Application\CCleanerBrowser.exe'
        - '\chromium.exe'
        - '\firefox.exe'
        - '\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe'
        - '\iexplore.exe'
        - '\microsoftedge.exe'
        - '\msedge.exe'
        - '\Opera.exe'
        - '\Vivaldi.exe'
        - '\Whale.exe'
        # Covers email clients
        - '\olk.exe' # Outlook
        - '\Outlook.exe'
        - '\RuntimeBroker.exe' # If the windows mail client is used
        - '\Thunderbird.exe'
        # Covers chat applications
        - '\Discord.exe' # Should open the browser for download, but just in case.
        - '\Keybase.exe'
        - '\msteams.exe'
        - '\Slack.exe'
        - '\teams.exe'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

• Unknown

Tags

• attack.stealth

Related rules

• f748c45a-f8d3-4e6f-b617-fe176f695b8f (derived)

References

• https://www.blackhillsinfosec.com/rogue-rdp-revisiting-initial-access-methods/
• https://web.archive.org/web/20230726144748/https://blog.thickmints.dev/mintsights/detecting-rogue-rdp/

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/file/file_event/file_event_win_rdp_file_susp_creation.yml