Detection rules › Elastic
Indirect Command Execution via Forfiles/Pcalua
Identifies indirect command execution via Program Compatibility Assistant (pcalua.exe) or forfiles.exe.
MITRE ATT&CK coverage
| Tactic | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Stealth | T1202 Indirect Command Execution |
Event coverage
| Provider | Event | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Sysmon | Event ID 1 | Process creation |
| Security-Auditing | Event ID 4688 | A new process has been created. |
Rule body elastic
[metadata]
creation_date = "2023/08/24"
integration = ["endpoint", "windows", "system"]
maturity = "production"
updated_date = "2025/03/20"
[rule]
author = ["Elastic"]
building_block_type = "default"
description = "Identifies indirect command execution via Program Compatibility Assistant (pcalua.exe) or forfiles.exe.\n"
from = "now-119m"
index = [
"endgame-*",
"logs-endpoint.events.process-*",
"logs-system.security*",
"logs-windows.*",
"winlogbeat-*",
]
interval = "60m"
language = "eql"
license = "Elastic License v2"
name = "Indirect Command Execution via Forfiles/Pcalua"
risk_score = 21
rule_id = "98843d35-645e-4e66-9d6a-5049acd96ce1"
severity = "low"
tags = [
"Domain: Endpoint",
"OS: Windows",
"Use Case: Threat Detection",
"Tactic: Defense Evasion",
"Data Source: Elastic Defend",
"Rule Type: BBR",
"Data Source: Elastic Endgame",
"Data Source: Windows Security Event Logs",
]
timestamp_override = "event.ingested"
type = "eql"
query = '''
process where host.os.type == "windows" and event.type == "start" and
process.parent.name : ("pcalua.exe", "forfiles.exe")
'''
[[rule.threat]]
framework = "MITRE ATT&CK"
[[rule.threat.technique]]
id = "T1202"
name = "Indirect Command Execution"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1202/"
[rule.threat.tactic]
id = "TA0005"
name = "Defense Evasion"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0005/"
Stages and Predicates
Stage 1: process
process where host.os.type == "windows" and event.type == "start" and
process.parent.name : ("pcalua.exe", "forfiles.exe")
Indicators
Each row is a field, operator, and value that the rule matches. The corpus column counts how many other rules in the catalog look for the same combination: high numbers point to widely-used, community-vetted indicators. Blank or 1 shows that the indicator is specific to this rule.
| Field | Kind | Values |
|---|---|---|
event.type | eq |
|
process.parent.name | wildcard |
|