Network Communication Initiated To File Sharing Domains From Process Located In Suspicious Folder

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

Detects executables located in potentially suspicious directories initiating network connections towards file sharing domains.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Command & Control	`T1105` Ingress Tool Transfer

Event coverage

Provider	Event	Title
Sysmon	Event ID 3	Network connection

Rule body yaml

title: Network Communication Initiated To File Sharing Domains From Process Located In Suspicious Folder
id: e0f8ab85-0ac9-423b-a73a-81b3c7b1aa97
related:
    - id: 635dbb88-67b3-4b41-9ea5-a3af2dd88153
      type: obsolete
status: test
description: Detects executables located in potentially suspicious directories initiating network connections towards file sharing domains.
references:
    - https://twitter.com/M_haggis/status/900741347035889665
    - https://twitter.com/M_haggis/status/1032799638213066752
    - https://symantec-enterprise-blogs.security.com/blogs/threat-intelligence/ransomware-hive-conti-avoslocker
    - https://www.cisa.gov/uscert/ncas/alerts/aa22-321a
    - https://github.com/EmpireProject/Empire/blob/e37fb2eef8ff8f5a0a689f1589f424906fe13055/data/module_source/exfil/Invoke-ExfilDataToGitHub.ps1
author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
date: 2018-08-30
modified: 2025-12-10
tags:
    - attack.command-and-control
    - attack.t1105
logsource:
    category: network_connection
    product: windows
detection:
    selection_paths:
        Image|contains:
            - ':\$Recycle.bin'
            - ':\Perflogs\'
            - ':\Temp\'
            - ':\Users\Default\'
            - ':\Users\Public\'
            - ':\Windows\Fonts\'
            - ':\Windows\IME\'
            - ':\Windows\System32\Tasks\'
            - ':\Windows\Tasks\'
            - ':\Windows\Temp\'
            - '\AppData\Temp\'
            - '\config\systemprofile\'
            - '\Windows\addins\'
    selection_domains:
        Initiated: 'true'
        DestinationHostname|endswith:
            - '.githubusercontent.com'       # Includes both gists and github repositories / Michael Haag (idea)
            - 'anonfiles.com'
            - 'cdn.discordapp.com'
            - 'ddns.net'
            - 'dl.dropboxusercontent.com'
            - 'ghostbin.co'
            - 'github.com'
            - 'glitch.me'
            - 'gofile.io'
            - 'hastebin.com'
            - 'mediafire.com'
            - 'mega.co.nz'
            - 'mega.nz'
            - 'onrender.com'
            - 'pages.dev'
            - 'paste.ee'
            - 'pastebin.com'
            - 'pastebin.pl'
            - 'pastetext.net'
            - 'pixeldrain.com'
            - 'privatlab.com'
            - 'privatlab.net'
            - 'send.exploit.in'
            - 'sendspace.com'
            - 'storage.googleapis.com'
            - 'storjshare.io'
            - 'supabase.co'
            - 'temp.sh'
            - 'transfer.sh'
            - 'trycloudflare.com'
            - 'ufile.io'
            - 'w3spaces.com'
            - 'workers.dev'
    condition: all of selection_*
falsepositives:
    - Some installers located in the temp directory might communicate with the Github domains in order to download additional software. Baseline these cases or move the github domain to a lower level hunting rule.
level: high

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

all of selection_*

Stage 1: `selection_paths`

selection_paths:
    Image|contains:
        - ':\$Recycle.bin'
        - ':\Perflogs\'
        - ':\Temp\'
        - ':\Users\Default\'
        - ':\Users\Public\'
        - ':\Windows\Fonts\'
        - ':\Windows\IME\'
        - ':\Windows\System32\Tasks\'
        - ':\Windows\Tasks\'
        - ':\Windows\Temp\'
        - '\AppData\Temp\'
        - '\config\systemprofile\'
        - '\Windows\addins\'

Stage 2: `selection_domains`

selection_domains:
    Initiated: 'true'
    DestinationHostname|endswith:
        - '.githubusercontent.com'
        - 'anonfiles.com'
        - 'cdn.discordapp.com'
        - 'ddns.net'
        - 'dl.dropboxusercontent.com'
        - 'ghostbin.co'
        - 'github.com'
        - 'glitch.me'
        - 'gofile.io'
        - 'hastebin.com'
        - 'mediafire.com'
        - 'mega.co.nz'
        - 'mega.nz'
        - 'onrender.com'
        - 'pages.dev'
        - 'paste.ee'
        - 'pastebin.com'
        - 'pastebin.pl'
        - 'pastetext.net'
        - 'pixeldrain.com'
        - 'privatlab.com'
        - 'privatlab.net'
        - 'send.exploit.in'
        - 'sendspace.com'
        - 'storage.googleapis.com'
        - 'storjshare.io'
        - 'supabase.co'
        - 'temp.sh'
        - 'transfer.sh'
        - 'trycloudflare.com'
        - 'ufile.io'
        - 'w3spaces.com'
        - 'workers.dev'

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
`DestinationHostname`	ends_with	`.githubusercontent.com` `anonfiles.com` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `cdn.discordapp.com` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `ddns.net` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `dl.dropboxusercontent.com` `ghostbin.co` `github.com` `glitch.me` `gofile.io` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `hastebin.com` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `mediafire.com` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `mega.co.nz` corpus 3 (sigma 3) `mega.nz` corpus 3 (sigma 3) `onrender.com` `pages.dev` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `paste.ee` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `pastebin.com` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `pastebin.pl` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `pastetext.net` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `pixeldrain.com` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `privatlab.com` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `privatlab.net` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `send.exploit.in` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `sendspace.com` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `storage.googleapis.com` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `storjshare.io` `supabase.co` `temp.sh` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `transfer.sh` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `trycloudflare.com` corpus 3 (sigma 3) `ufile.io` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `w3spaces.com` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `workers.dev` corpus 2 (sigma 2)
`Image`	match	`:\$Recycle.bin` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `:\Perflogs\` corpus 10 (sigma 10) `:\Temp\` corpus 13 (sigma 13) `:\Users\Default\` corpus 3 (sigma 3) `:\Users\Public\` corpus 15 (sigma 15) `:\Windows\Fonts\` corpus 3 (sigma 3) `:\Windows\IME\` corpus 3 (sigma 3) `:\Windows\System32\Tasks\` corpus 4 (sigma 4) `:\Windows\Tasks\` corpus 5 (sigma 5) `:\Windows\Temp\` corpus 9 (sigma 9) `\AppData\Temp\` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `\Windows\addins\` corpus 4 (sigma 4) `\config\systemprofile\` corpus 4 (sigma 4)
`Initiated`	eq	`true` corpus 50 (sigma 50)

`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)

Network Communication Initiated To File Sharing Domains From Process Located In Suspicious Folder

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection_paths`

Stage 2: `selection_domains`

Indicators

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

Network Communication Initiated To File Sharing Domains From Process Located In Suspicious Folder

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: condition

Stage 1: selection_paths

Stage 2: selection_domains

Indicators

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection_paths`

Stage 2: `selection_domains`