Remote Thread Creation In Uncommon Target Image

Status: test
Severity: medium
Log source: product windows, category create_remote_thread
Author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)
Source: github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma

Detects uncommon target processes for remote thread creation

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Privilege Escalation	`T1055.003` Process Injection: Thread Execution Hijacking
Stealth	`T1055.003` Process Injection: Thread Execution Hijacking

Event coverage

Provider	Event	Title
Sysmon	Event ID 8	CreateRemoteThread

Rule body yaml

title: Remote Thread Creation In Uncommon Target Image
id: a1a144b7-5c9b-4853-a559-2172be8d4a03
related:
    - id: f016c716-754a-467f-a39e-63c06f773987
      type: obsolete
status: test
description: Detects uncommon target processes for remote thread creation
references:
    - https://web.archive.org/web/20220319032520/https://blog.redbluepurple.io/offensive-research/bypassing-injection-detection
author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)
date: 2022-03-16
modified: 2025-07-04
tags:
    - attack.privilege-escalation
    - attack.stealth
    - attack.t1055.003
logsource:
    product: windows
    category: create_remote_thread
detection:
    selection:
        TargetImage|endswith:
            - '\calc.exe'
            - '\calculator.exe'
            - '\mspaint.exe'
            - '\notepad.exe'
            - '\ping.exe'
            - '\sethc.exe'
            - '\spoolsv.exe'
            - '\wordpad.exe'
            - '\write.exe'
    filter_main_csrss:
        SourceImage: 'C:\Windows\System32\csrss.exe'
    filter_main_notepad:
        SourceImage:
            - 'C:\Windows\System32\explorer.exe'
            - 'C:\Windows\System32\OpenWith.exe'
        TargetImage: 'C:\Windows\System32\notepad.exe'
    filter_main_sethc:
        SourceImage: 'C:\Windows\System32\AtBroker.exe'
        TargetImage: 'C:\Windows\System32\Sethc.exe'
    filter_optional_aurora_1:
        StartFunction: 'EtwpNotificationThread'
    filter_optional_aurora_2:
        SourceImage|contains: 'unknown process'
    filter_optional_vmtoolsd:
        SourceImage: 'C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Tools\vmtoolsd.exe'
        StartFunction: 'GetCommandLineW'
        TargetImage:
            - 'C:\Windows\System32\notepad.exe'
            - 'C:\Windows\System32\spoolsv.exe'
    filter_optional_xerox_pjems:
        SourceImage: 'C:\Program Files\Xerox\XeroxPrintExperience\CommonFiles\XeroxPrintJobEventManagerService.exe'
        StartFunction: 'LoadLibraryW'
        TargetImage: 'C:\Windows\System32\spoolsv.exe'
    condition: selection and not 1 of filter_main_* and not 1 of filter_optional_*
falsepositives:
    - Unknown
level: medium

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

selection and not 1 of filter_main_* and not 1 of filter_optional_*

Stage 1: `selection`

selection:
    TargetImage|endswith:
        - '\calc.exe'
        - '\calculator.exe'
        - '\mspaint.exe'
        - '\notepad.exe'
        - '\ping.exe'
        - '\sethc.exe'
        - '\spoolsv.exe'
        - '\wordpad.exe'
        - '\write.exe'

Stage 2: `not filter_main_*`

filter_main_csrss:
    SourceImage: 'C:\Windows\System32\csrss.exe'
filter_main_notepad:
    SourceImage:
        - 'C:\Windows\System32\explorer.exe'
        - 'C:\Windows\System32\OpenWith.exe'
    TargetImage: 'C:\Windows\System32\notepad.exe'
filter_main_sethc:
    SourceImage: 'C:\Windows\System32\AtBroker.exe'
    TargetImage: 'C:\Windows\System32\Sethc.exe'

Stage 3: `not filter_optional_*`

filter_optional_aurora_1:
    StartFunction: 'EtwpNotificationThread'
filter_optional_aurora_2:
    SourceImage|contains: 'unknown process'
filter_optional_vmtoolsd:
    SourceImage: 'C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Tools\vmtoolsd.exe'
    StartFunction: 'GetCommandLineW'
    TargetImage:
        - 'C:\Windows\System32\notepad.exe'
        - 'C:\Windows\System32\spoolsv.exe'
filter_optional_xerox_pjems:
    SourceImage: 'C:\Program Files\Xerox\XeroxPrintExperience\CommonFiles\XeroxPrintJobEventManagerService.exe'
    StartFunction: 'LoadLibraryW'
    TargetImage: 'C:\Windows\System32\spoolsv.exe'

Exclusions

Top-level NOT(...) conjuncts: predicates this rule actively suppresses.

Field	Kind	Excluded values
`SourceImage`	eq	`C:\Windows\System32\OpenWith.exe`
`SourceImage`	eq	`C:\Windows\System32\explorer.exe`
`TargetImage`	eq	`C:\Windows\System32\notepad.exe`
`SourceImage`	eq	`C:\Windows\System32\AtBroker.exe`
`TargetImage`	eq	`C:\Windows\System32\Sethc.exe`
`SourceImage`	eq	`C:\Windows\System32\csrss.exe`
`TargetImage`	eq	`C:\Windows\System32\notepad.exe`
`TargetImage`	eq	`C:\Windows\System32\spoolsv.exe`
`SourceImage`	eq	`C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Tools\vmtoolsd.exe`
`StartFunction`	eq	`GetCommandLineW`
`SourceImage`	eq	`C:\Program Files\Xerox\XeroxPrintExperience\CommonFiles\XeroxPrintJobEventManagerService.exe`
`StartFunction`	eq	`LoadLibraryW`
`TargetImage`	eq	`C:\Windows\System32\spoolsv.exe`
`SourceImage`	match	`unknown process`
`StartFunction`	eq	`EtwpNotificationThread`

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
`TargetImage`	ends_with	`\calc.exe` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `\calculator.exe` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `\mspaint.exe` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `\notepad.exe` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `\ping.exe` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `\sethc.exe` `\spoolsv.exe` `\wordpad.exe` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `\write.exe` corpus 2 (sigma 2)

`j` / `k`	Scroll down / up
`d` / `u`	Half-page down / up
`gg` / `G`	Top / bottom
`h` / `l`	History back / forward
`f`	Follow link (`Shift` = new tab)
`/`	Focus search
`?`	Toggle this help
`↑` / `↓`	Navigate search results
`Enter`	Open highlighted result
`Esc`	Close results / dialog

`type:`	`events` / `rules` / `providers`
`vendor:`	`sigma` / `elastic` / `splunk` / `kusto` / `chronicle` (vendor name alone also works: `sigma:`, `kql:`, `secops:`…)
`tactic:`	TA-id, slug, or name: `credential_access`, `TA0006`
`technique:`	technique or sub-technique ID: `T1003`, `T1003.001` (alias `tech:`)
`severity:`	`critical` / `high` / `medium` / `low` / `informational` (alias `sev:`)
`risk_score`	Numeric comparison on the Elastic risk score (0 to 100): `risk_score>50`, `risk_score<=20`, `risk_score=99` (alias `risk`; Elastic rules only)
`stages:`	Rules with exactly N pipeline stages
`correlation:`	`single_event` / `sequence` / `alternatives` / `alternatives_cross_log` / `all_required` / `correlated`
`with:`	Co-occurrence event-id; stacks (`with:4624 with:4769`) to require all, while a comma list in one occurrence (`with:4624,4769`) is an either-or group. Implies multi-event
`like:`	Structural neighbors of a rule slug (equivalents + subsumption stricter / broader): `like:comsvcs_lsass_memory_dump-splunk-sysmon`
`groupby:`	Entity-grouping substring match against `group_by_keys`: `groupby:user`, `groupby:host`
`uses:`	Rules whose predicate tree touches the field (any kind, any value): `uses:CommandLine`
`excludes:`	Rules with top-level `not()` clauses on the field (FP whitelists): `excludes:ParentImage`
`field:` / `value:`	Predicate search; narrows rule cards to those with a matching leaf and drives the indicator tier. Unquoted = substring, wildcards allowed (`value:mimikatz`)
`indicator:`	Shorthand for `field:F value:V`: `indicator:Image=*\powershell.exe`
`kind:`	Filter by predicate kind. Narrows rule cards to those carrying a matching predicate leaf (`vendor:elastic kind:cidr_match`) and drives the indicator tier: `contains` / `starts_with` / `ends_with` / `regex` / `cidr` / `eq` / `in` … (operator aliases `op:`/`match:`)
`has:` / `no:`	`sample`, `field`, `notes`, `refs`, `trace`, `thirdparty`, `rule`, `pattern`, `timewindow`, `threshold`, `newterms`, `sigma`/`elastic`/`splunk`/`kusto`/`chronicle`
`-op:val`	Exclude matches; works on most operators but not `type:`/`like:`/`has:`/`no:` (use `no:<flag>` to exclude a rule flag): `tactic:execution -vendor:splunk`. Standalone `-kind:`/`-field:`/`-value:` drop every rule carrying a matching predicate leaf (`type:rules -kind:is_null`)
`field:"…"` / `value:"…"`	Quoted value = anchored exact match (also allows spaces): `value:"net user"`
`a,b`	Comma = OR inside one operator (`vendor:sigma,elastic`, `severity:high,critical`); repeating a facet merges the same way. `field:`/`value:` never split (literal commas)
`vendors:` / `stage:`	Singular and plural spellings fold to the canonical operator and value: `tactics:` = `tactic:`, `type:event` = `type:events`, `correlation:sequences` = `correlation:sequence`, `has:thresholds` = `has:threshold`
`"quoted phrase"`	Exact-match a multi-word phrase (free text)

Remote Thread Creation In Uncommon Target Image

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection`

Stage 2: `not filter_main_*`

Stage 3: `not filter_optional_*`

Exclusions

Indicators

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

Remote Thread Creation In Uncommon Target Image

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: condition

Stage 1: selection

Stage 2: not filter_main_*

Stage 3: not filter_optional_*

Exclusions

Indicators

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection`

Stage 2: `not filter_main_*`

Stage 3: `not filter_optional_*`