Detection rules › YARA-L
File Download Via Windows Defender MpCmpRun.EXE
Detects the use of Windows Defender MpCmdRun.EXE to download files
MITRE ATT&CK coverage
| Tactic | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Command & Control | T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer |
References
Event coverage
| Provider | Event | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Sysmon | Event ID 1 | Process creation |
| Security-Auditing | Event ID 4688 | A new process has been created. |
Rule body yaral
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* Copyright 2025 Google LLC
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* Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
* you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
* You may obtain a copy of the License at
*
* https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
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* Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
* distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
* WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
* See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
* limitations under the License.
*/
rule file_download_via_windows_defender_mpcmdrun_exe {
meta:
author = "Matthew Matchen"
description = "Detects the use of Windows Defender MpCmdRun.EXE to download files"
reference = "https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_mpcmdrun_download_arbitrary_file.yml"
license = "https://github.com/SigmaHQ/Detection-Rule-License/blob/main/LICENSE.Detection.Rules.md"
rule_name = "File Download Via Windows Defender MpCmpRun.EXE"
sigma_uuid = "46123129-1024-423e-9fae-43af4a0fa9a5"
sigma_status = "test"
rule_id = "mr_22c73791-b666-436e-b584-f14afb3cf6d5"
tactic = "TA0011"
technique = "T1105"
type = "Detection"
data_source = "Sysmon"
platform = "Windows"
severity = "High"
priority = "High"
false_positives = "Unknown"
events:
$process.metadata.event_type = "PROCESS_LAUNCH"
(
$process.src.process.file.full_path = "mpcmdrun.exe" nocase or
re.regex($process.target.process.file.full_path, `\\mpcmdrun\.exe$`) nocase or
strings.contains(strings.to_lower($process.target.process.command_line), "mpcmdrun.exe") or
$process.target.asset.software.description = "Microsoft Malware Protection Command Line Utility" nocase
)
(
strings.contains(strings.to_lower($process.target.process.command_line), "downloadfile") and
strings.contains(strings.to_lower($process.target.process.command_line), "url")
)
$process.principal.hostname = $hostname
match:
$hostname over 1m
outcome:
//example usage of specifying test user and hostname to adjust risk score
$risk_score = max(if($process.principal.user.userid = "user" and $process.principal.hostname = "hostname", 0, 15))
$principal_process_pid = array_distinct($process.principal.process.pid)
$principal_process_command_line = array_distinct($process.principal.process.command_line)
$principal_process_file_sha256 = array_distinct($process.principal.process.file.sha256)
$principal_process_file_full_path = array_distinct($process.principal.process.file.full_path)
$principal_process_product_specfic_process_id = array_distinct($process.principal.process.product_specific_process_id)
$principal_process_parent_process_product_specfic_process_id = array_distinct($process.principal.process.parent_process.product_specific_process_id)
$target_process_pid = array_distinct($process.target.process.pid)
$target_process_command_line = array_distinct($process.target.process.command_line)
$target_process_file_sha256 = array_distinct($process.target.process.file.sha256)
$target_process_file_full_path = array_distinct($process.target.process.file.full_path)
$target_process_product_specfic_process_id = array_distinct($process.target.process.product_specific_process_id)
$principal_user_userid = array_distinct($process.principal.user.userid)
$log_type = array_distinct(strings.concat($process.metadata.log_type,"/",$process.metadata.product_event_type))
condition:
$process
}
Detection logic
Fires when at least one $process event in the 1m window.
Events
$process
src.process.file.full_path = "mpcmdrun.exe"target.process.file.full_path matches "\\mpcmdrun\.exe$"target.process.command_line contains "mpcmdrun.exe"target.asset.software.description = "Microsoft Malware Protection Command Line Utility"target.process.command_line contains "downloadfile"target.process.command_line contains "url"
Correlation
Outcome
Fields the detection emits on a match. $risk_score drives alerting; Chronicle surfaces the rest on the detection.
| Field | Expression |
|---|---|
risk_score | max(if($process.principal.user.userid = "user" and $process.principal.hostname = "hostname", 0, 15)) |
principal_process_pid | array_distinct($process.principal.process.pid) |
principal_process_command_line | array_distinct($process.principal.process.command_line) |
principal_process_file_sha256 | array_distinct($process.principal.process.file.sha256) |
principal_process_file_full_path | array_distinct($process.principal.process.file.full_path) |
principal_process_product_specfic_process_id | array_distinct($process.principal.process.product_specific_process_id) |
principal_process_parent_process_product_specfic_process_id | array_distinct($process.principal.process.parent_process.product_specific_process_id) |
target_process_pid | array_distinct($process.target.process.pid) |
target_process_command_line | array_distinct($process.target.process.command_line) |
target_process_file_sha256 | array_distinct($process.target.process.file.sha256) |
target_process_file_full_path | array_distinct($process.target.process.file.full_path) |
target_process_product_specfic_process_id | array_distinct($process.target.process.product_specific_process_id) |
principal_user_userid | array_distinct($process.principal.user.userid) |
log_type | array_distinct(strings.concat($process.metadata.log_type,"/",$process.metadata.product_event_type)) |