Suspicious File Downloaded From File-Sharing Website Via Certutil.EXE

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

Detects the execution of certutil with certain flags that allow the utility to download files from file-sharing websites.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Stealth	`T1027` Obfuscated Files or Information
Command & Control	`T1105` Ingress Tool Transfer

Event coverage

Provider	Event	Title
Sysmon	Event ID 1	Process creation

Rule body yaml

title: Suspicious File Downloaded From File-Sharing Website Via Certutil.EXE
id: 42a5f1e7-9603-4f6d-97ae-3f37d130d794
related:
    - id: 19b08b1c-861d-4e75-a1ef-ea0c1baf202b # Direct IP download
      type: similar
    - id: 13e6fe51-d478-4c7e-b0f2-6da9b400a829 # Generic download
      type: similar
status: test
description: Detects the execution of certutil with certain flags that allow the utility to download files from file-sharing websites.
references:
    - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/certutil
    - https://forensicitguy.github.io/agenttesla-vba-certutil-download/
    - https://news.sophos.com/en-us/2021/04/13/compromised-exchange-server-hosting-cryptojacker-targeting-other-exchange-servers/
    - https://twitter.com/egre55/status/1087685529016193025
    - https://lolbas-project.github.io/lolbas/Binaries/Certutil/
    - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2024/01/17/new-ttps-observed-in-mint-sandstorm-campaign-targeting-high-profile-individuals-at-universities-and-research-orgs/
    - https://www.hexacorn.com/blog/2020/08/23/certutil-one-more-gui-lolbin
author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
date: 2023-02-15
modified: 2025-12-10
tags:
    - attack.stealth
    - attack.t1027
    - attack.command-and-control
    - attack.t1105
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection_img:
        - Image|endswith: '\certutil.exe'
        - OriginalFileName: 'CertUtil.exe'
    selection_flags:
        CommandLine|contains:
            - 'urlcache '
            - 'verifyctl '
            - 'URL '
    selection_http:
        CommandLine|contains:
            - '.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.nz'
            - 'onrender.com'
            - 'pages.dev'
            - 'paste.ee'
            - 'pastebin.com'
            - 'pastebin.pl'
            - 'pastetext.net'
            - '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:
    - Unknown
level: high
regression_tests_path: regression_data/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_certutil_download_file_sharing_domains/info.yml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

all of selection_*

Stage 1: `selection_img`

selection_img:
    - Image|endswith: '\certutil.exe'
    - OriginalFileName: 'CertUtil.exe'

Stage 2: `selection_flags`

selection_flags:
    CommandLine|contains:
        - 'urlcache '
        - 'verifyctl '
        - 'URL '

Stage 3: `selection_http`

selection_http:
    CommandLine|contains:
        - '.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.nz'
        - 'onrender.com'
        - 'pages.dev'
        - 'paste.ee'
        - 'pastebin.com'
        - 'pastebin.pl'
        - 'pastetext.net'
        - '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
`CommandLine`	match	`.githubusercontent.com` corpus 5 (sigma 4, chronicle 1) `URL` corpus 3 (sigma 3) `anonfiles.com` corpus 6 (sigma 5, chronicle 1) `cdn.discordapp.com` corpus 6 (sigma 5, chronicle 1) `ddns.net` corpus 6 (sigma 5, chronicle 1) `dl.dropboxusercontent.com` corpus 6 (sigma 5, chronicle 1) `ghostbin.co` corpus 6 (sigma 5, chronicle 1) `github.com` corpus 4 (sigma 4) `glitch.me` corpus 6 (sigma 5, chronicle 1) `gofile.io` corpus 6 (sigma 5, chronicle 1) `hastebin.com` corpus 6 (sigma 5, chronicle 1) `mediafire.com` corpus 6 (sigma 5, chronicle 1) `mega.nz` corpus 6 (sigma 5, chronicle 1) `onrender.com` corpus 6 (sigma 5, chronicle 1) `pages.dev` corpus 6 (sigma 5, chronicle 1) `paste.ee` corpus 6 (sigma 5, chronicle 1) `pastebin.com` corpus 6 (sigma 5, chronicle 1) `pastebin.pl` corpus 6 (sigma 5, chronicle 1) `pastetext.net` corpus 6 (sigma 5, chronicle 1) `privatlab.com` corpus 6 (sigma 5, chronicle 1) `privatlab.net` corpus 6 (sigma 5, chronicle 1) `send.exploit.in` corpus 6 (sigma 5, chronicle 1) `sendspace.com` corpus 6 (sigma 5, chronicle 1) `storage.googleapis.com` corpus 6 (sigma 5, chronicle 1) `storjshare.io` corpus 6 (sigma 5, chronicle 1) `supabase.co` corpus 6 (sigma 5, chronicle 1) `temp.sh` corpus 6 (sigma 5, chronicle 1) `transfer.sh` corpus 6 (sigma 5, chronicle 1) `trycloudflare.com` corpus 6 (sigma 5, chronicle 1) `ufile.io` corpus 6 (sigma 5, chronicle 1) `urlcache` corpus 5 (sigma 3, chronicle 2) `verifyctl` corpus 5 (sigma 3, chronicle 2) `w3spaces.com` corpus 6 (sigma 5, chronicle 1) `workers.dev` corpus 6 (sigma 5, chronicle 1)
`Image`	ends_with	`\certutil.exe` corpus 43 (sigma 43)
`OriginalFileName`	eq	`CertUtil.exe` corpus 21 (sigma 14, splunk 6, elastic 1)

`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)

Suspicious File Downloaded From File-Sharing Website Via Certutil.EXE

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection_img`

Stage 2: `selection_flags`

Stage 3: `selection_http`

Indicators

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

Suspicious File Downloaded From File-Sharing Website Via Certutil.EXE

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: condition

Stage 1: selection_img

Stage 2: selection_flags

Stage 3: selection_http

Indicators

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection_img`

Stage 2: `selection_flags`

Stage 3: `selection_http`