ADS Zone.Identifier Deleted By Uncommon Application

Status: test
Severity: medium
Log source: product windows, category file_delete
Author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
Source: github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma

Detects the deletion of the "Zone.Identifier" ADS by an uncommon process. Attackers can leverage this in order to bypass security restrictions that make use of the ADS such as Microsoft Office apps.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Stealth	`T1070.004` Indicator Removal: File Deletion

Event coverage

Provider	Event	Title
Sysmon	Event ID 23	FileDelete (File Delete archived)
Sysmon	Event ID 26	FileDeleteDetected (File Delete logged)

Rule body yaml

title: ADS Zone.Identifier Deleted By Uncommon Application
id: 3109530e-ab47-4cc6-a953-cac5ebcc93ae
related:
    - id: 7eac0a16-5832-4e81-865f-0268a6d19e4b
      type: similar
status: test
description: Detects the deletion of the "Zone.Identifier" ADS by an uncommon process. Attackers can leverage this in order to bypass security restrictions that make use of the ADS such as Microsoft Office apps.
references:
    - https://securityliterate.com/how-malware-abuses-the-zone-identifier-to-circumvent-detection-and-analysis/
    - Internal Research
author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
date: 2023-09-04
modified: 2025-07-04
tags:
    - attack.stealth
    - attack.t1070.004
logsource:
    product: windows
    category: file_delete
detection:
    selection:
        TargetFilename|endswith: ':Zone.Identifier'
    filter_main_generic:
        # Note: in some envs this activity might be performed by other software. Apply additional filters as necessary
        Image:
            - 'C:\Program Files\PowerShell\7-preview\pwsh.exe'
            - 'C:\Program Files\PowerShell\7\pwsh.exe'
            - 'C:\Windows\explorer.exe'
            - 'C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe'
            - 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\explorer.exe'
            - 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe'
    filter_optional_browsers_chrome:
        Image:
            - 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe'
            - 'C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe'
    filter_optional_browsers_firefox:
        Image:
            - 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe'
            - 'C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe'
    filter_optional_browsers_msedge:
        Image:
            - 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe'
            - 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe'
    condition: selection and not 1 of filter_main_* and not 1 of filter_optional_*
falsepositives:
    - Other third party applications not listed.
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:
    TargetFilename|endswith: ':Zone.Identifier'

Stage 2: `not filter_main_generic`

filter_main_generic:
    Image:
        - 'C:\Program Files\PowerShell\7-preview\pwsh.exe'
        - 'C:\Program Files\PowerShell\7\pwsh.exe'
        - 'C:\Windows\explorer.exe'
        - 'C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe'
        - 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\explorer.exe'
        - 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe'

Stage 3: `not filter_optional_*`

filter_optional_browsers_chrome:
    Image:
        - 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe'
        - 'C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe'
filter_optional_browsers_firefox:
    Image:
        - 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe'
        - 'C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe'
filter_optional_browsers_msedge:
    Image:
        - 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe'
        - 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe'

Exclusions

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

Field	Kind	Excluded values
`Image`	eq	`C:\Program Files\PowerShell\7-preview\pwsh.exe`
`Image`	eq	`C:\Program Files\PowerShell\7\pwsh.exe`
`Image`	eq	`C:\Windows\SysWOW64\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe`
`Image`	eq	`C:\Windows\SysWOW64\explorer.exe`
`Image`	eq	`C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe`
`Image`	eq	`C:\Windows\explorer.exe`
`Image`	eq	`C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe`
`Image`	eq	`C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe`
`Image`	eq	`C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe`
`Image`	eq	`C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe`
`Image`	eq	`C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe`
`Image`	eq	`C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.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
`TargetFilename`	ends_with	`:Zone.Identifier` corpus 6 (sigma 4, splunk 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)

ADS Zone.Identifier Deleted By Uncommon Application

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection`

Stage 2: `not filter_main_generic`

Stage 3: `not filter_optional_*`

Exclusions

Indicators

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

ADS Zone.Identifier Deleted By Uncommon Application

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: condition

Stage 1: selection

Stage 2: not filter_main_generic

Stage 3: not filter_optional_*

Exclusions

Indicators

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection`

Stage 2: `not filter_main_generic`

Stage 3: `not filter_optional_*`