HackTool - Certipy Execution

Status: test
Severity: high
Log source: product windows, category process_creation
Author: pH-T (Nextron Systems), Sittikorn Sangrattanapitak
Source: github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma

Detects Certipy execution, a tool for Active Directory Certificate Services enumeration and abuse based on PE metadata characteristics and common command line arguments.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Credential Access	`T1649` Steal or Forge Authentication Certificates

Event coverage

Provider	Event	Title
Sysmon	Event ID 1	Process creation

Rule body yaml

title: HackTool - Certipy Execution
id: 6938366d-8954-4ddc-baff-c830b3ba8fcd
status: test
description: |
    Detects Certipy execution, a tool for Active Directory Certificate Services enumeration and abuse based on PE metadata characteristics and common command line arguments.
references:
    - https://github.com/ly4k/Certipy
    - https://research.ifcr.dk/certipy-4-0-esc9-esc10-bloodhound-gui-new-authentication-and-request-methods-and-more-7237d88061f7
author: pH-T (Nextron Systems), Sittikorn Sangrattanapitak
date: 2023-04-17
modified: 2024-10-08
tags:
    - attack.discovery
    - attack.credential-access
    - attack.t1649
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection_img:
        - Image|endswith: '\Certipy.exe'
        - OriginalFileName: 'Certipy.exe'
        - Description|contains: 'Certipy'
    selection_cli_commands:
        CommandLine|contains:
            - ' account '
            - ' auth '
            # - ' ca ' # Too short to be used with just one CLI
            - ' cert '
            - ' find '
            - ' forge '
            - ' ptt '
            - ' relay '
            - ' req '
            - ' shadow '
            - ' template '
    selection_cli_flags:
        CommandLine|contains:
            - ' -bloodhound'
            - ' -ca-pfx '
            - ' -dc-ip '
            - ' -kirbi'
            - ' -old-bloodhound'
            - ' -pfx '
            - ' -target'
            - ' -template'
            - ' -username '
            - ' -vulnerable'
            - 'auth -pfx'
            - 'shadow auto'
            - 'shadow list'
    condition: selection_img or all of selection_cli_*
falsepositives:
    - Unlikely
level: high

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

selection_img or all of selection_cli_*

Stage 1: `selection_img`

selection_img:
    - Image|endswith: '\Certipy.exe'
    - OriginalFileName: 'Certipy.exe'
    - Description|contains: 'Certipy'

Stage 2: `selection_cli_commands`

selection_cli_commands:
    CommandLine|contains:
        - ' account '
        - ' auth '
        - ' cert '
        - ' find '
        - ' forge '
        - ' ptt '
        - ' relay '
        - ' req '
        - ' shadow '
        - ' template '

Stage 3: `selection_cli_flags`

selection_cli_flags:
    CommandLine|contains:
        - ' -bloodhound'
        - ' -ca-pfx '
        - ' -dc-ip '
        - ' -kirbi'
        - ' -old-bloodhound'
        - ' -pfx '
        - ' -target'
        - ' -template'
        - ' -username '
        - ' -vulnerable'
        - 'auth -pfx'
        - 'shadow auto'
        - 'shadow list'

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	`-bloodhound` `-ca-pfx` `-dc-ip` `-kirbi` `-old-bloodhound` `-pfx` `-target` `-template` `-username` `-vulnerable` `account` `auth` `cert` `find` corpus 2 (sigma 1, splunk 1) `forge` `ptt` `relay` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `req` `shadow` `template` `auth -pfx` `shadow auto` `shadow list`
`Description`	match	`Certipy`
`Image`	ends_with	`\Certipy.exe` corpus 2 (sigma 2)
`OriginalFileName`	eq	`Certipy.exe`

`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)

HackTool - Certipy Execution

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection_img`

Stage 2: `selection_cli_commands`

Stage 3: `selection_cli_flags`

Indicators

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

HackTool - Certipy Execution

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: condition

Stage 1: selection_img

Stage 2: selection_cli_commands

Stage 3: selection_cli_flags

Indicators

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection_img`

Stage 2: `selection_cli_commands`

Stage 3: `selection_cli_flags`