Uncommon PowerShell Hosts

Status: test
Severity: medium
Log source: product windows, category ps_classic_start
Author: Roberto Rodriguez @Cyb3rWard0g
Source: github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma

Detects alternate PowerShell hosts potentially bypassing detections looking for powershell.exe

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Execution	`T1059.001` Command and Scripting Interpreter: PowerShell

Event coverage

Provider	Event
PowerShell	Event ID 400

Rule body yaml

title: Uncommon PowerShell Hosts
id: d7326048-328b-4d5e-98af-86e84b17c765
related:
    - id: 64e8e417-c19a-475a-8d19-98ea705394cc
      type: derived
status: test
description: Detects alternate PowerShell hosts potentially bypassing detections looking for powershell.exe
references:
    - https://threathunterplaybook.com/hunts/windows/190815-RemoteServiceInstallation/notebook.html
author: Roberto Rodriguez @Cyb3rWard0g
date: 2019-08-11
modified: 2025-10-22
tags:
    - attack.execution
    - attack.t1059.001
    - detection.threat-hunting
logsource:
    product: windows
    category: ps_classic_start
detection:
    selection:
        Data|contains: 'HostApplication='
    # Note: Powershell Logging Data is localized. Meaning that "HostApplication" field will be translated to a different field on a non english layout. This rule doesn't take this into account due to the sheer ammount of possibilities. It's up to the user to add these cases.
    filter_main_ps:
        Data|contains:
            - 'HostApplication=?:/Windows/System32/WindowsPowerShell/v1.0/powershell' # In some cases powershell was invoked with inverted slashes
            - 'HostApplication=?:/Windows/SysWOW64/WindowsPowerShell/v1.0/powershell' # In some cases powershell was invoked with inverted slashes
            - 'HostApplication=?:\Windows\System32\sdiagnhost.exe'
            - 'HostApplication=?:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell'
            - 'HostApplication=?:\Windows\SysWOW64\sdiagnhost.exe'
            - 'HostApplication=?:\Windows\SysWOW64\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell'
            - 'HostApplication=powershell'
    filter_optional_citrix:
        Data|contains: 'Citrix\ConfigSync\ConfigSync.ps1'
    filter_optional_hexnode:
        Data|contains: 'HostApplication=C:\Hexnode\Hexnode Agent\Current\HexnodeAgent.exe'
    condition: selection and not 1 of filter_main_* and not 1 of filter_optional_*
falsepositives:
    - Programs using PowerShell directly without invocation of a dedicated interpreter
    - MSP Detection Searcher
    - Citrix ConfigSync.ps1
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:
    Data|contains: 'HostApplication='

Stage 2: `not filter_main_ps`

filter_main_ps:
    Data|contains:
        - 'HostApplication=?:/Windows/System32/WindowsPowerShell/v1.0/powershell'
        - 'HostApplication=?:/Windows/SysWOW64/WindowsPowerShell/v1.0/powershell'
        - 'HostApplication=?:\Windows\System32\sdiagnhost.exe'
        - 'HostApplication=?:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell'
        - 'HostApplication=?:\Windows\SysWOW64\sdiagnhost.exe'
        - 'HostApplication=?:\Windows\SysWOW64\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell'
        - 'HostApplication=powershell'

Stage 3: `not filter_optional_*`

filter_optional_citrix:
    Data|contains: 'Citrix\ConfigSync\ConfigSync.ps1'
filter_optional_hexnode:
    Data|contains: 'HostApplication=C:\Hexnode\Hexnode Agent\Current\HexnodeAgent.exe'

Exclusions

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

Field	Kind	Excluded values
`Data`	match	`HostApplication=?:/Windows/SysWOW64/WindowsPowerShell/v1.0/powershell`
`Data`	match	`HostApplication=?:/Windows/System32/WindowsPowerShell/v1.0/powershell`
`Data`	match	`HostApplication=?:\Windows\SysWOW64\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell`
`Data`	match	`HostApplication=?:\Windows\SysWOW64\sdiagnhost.exe`
`Data`	match	`HostApplication=?:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell`
`Data`	match	`HostApplication=?:\Windows\System32\sdiagnhost.exe`
`Data`	match	`HostApplication=powershell`
`Data`	match	`Citrix\ConfigSync\ConfigSync.ps1`
`Data`	match	`HostApplication=C:\Hexnode\Hexnode Agent\Current\HexnodeAgent.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
`Data`	match	`HostApplication=`

`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)

Uncommon PowerShell Hosts

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection`

Stage 2: `not filter_main_ps`

Stage 3: `not filter_optional_*`

Exclusions

Indicators

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

Uncommon PowerShell Hosts

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: condition

Stage 1: selection

Stage 2: not filter_main_ps

Stage 3: not filter_optional_*

Exclusions

Indicators

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection`

Stage 2: `not filter_main_ps`

Stage 3: `not filter_optional_*`