PUA - PingCastle Execution From Potentially Suspicious Parent

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

Detects the execution of PingCastle, a tool designed to quickly assess the Active Directory security level via a script located in a potentially suspicious or uncommon location.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Reconnaissance	`T1595` Active Scanning

Event coverage

Provider	Event	Title
Sysmon	Event ID 1	Process creation

Rule body yaml

title: PUA - PingCastle Execution From Potentially Suspicious Parent
id: b37998de-a70b-4f33-b219-ec36bf433dc0
related:
    - id: b1cb4ab6-ac31-43f4-adf1-d9d08957419c
      type: derived
status: test
description: |
    Detects the execution of PingCastle, a tool designed to quickly assess the Active Directory security level via a script located in a potentially suspicious or uncommon location.
references:
    - https://github.com/vletoux/pingcastle
    - https://thedfirreport.com/2023/10/30/netsupport-intrusion-results-in-domain-compromise/
    - https://github.com/fengjixuchui/Start-ADEnum/blob/e237a739db98b6104427d833004836507da36a58/Functions/Start-ADEnum.ps1#L450
    - https://github.com/lkys37en/Start-ADEnum/blob/5b42c54215fe5f57fc59abc52c20487d15764005/Functions/Start-ADEnum.ps1#L680
    - https://github.com/projectHULK/AD_Recon/blob/dde2daba9b3393a9388cbebda87068972cc0bd3b/SecurityAssessment.ps1#L2699
    - https://github.com/802-1x/Compliance/blob/2e53df8b6e89686a0b91116b3f42c8f717dca820/Ping%20Castle/Get-PingCastle-HTMLComplianceReport.ps1#L8
    - https://github.com/EvotecIT/TheDashboard/blob/481a9ce8f82f2fd55fe65220ee6486bae6df0c9d/Examples/RunReports/PingCastle.ps1
author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems), X__Junior (Nextron Systems)
date: 2024-01-11
tags:
    - attack.reconnaissance
    - attack.t1595
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection_parent_ext:
        ParentCommandLine|contains:
            - '.bat'
            - '.chm'
            - '.cmd'
            - '.hta'
            - '.htm'
            - '.html'
            - '.js'
            - '.lnk'
            - '.ps1'
            - '.vbe'
            - '.vbs'
            - '.wsf'
    selection_parent_path_1:
        ParentCommandLine|contains:
            - ':\Perflogs\'
            - ':\Temp\'
            - ':\Users\Public\'
            - ':\Windows\Temp\'
            - '\AppData\Local\Temp'
            - '\AppData\Roaming\'
            - '\Temporary Internet'
    selection_parent_path_2:
        - ParentCommandLine|contains|all:
              - ':\Users\'
              - '\Favorites\'
        - ParentCommandLine|contains|all:
              - ':\Users\'
              - '\Favourites\'
        - ParentCommandLine|contains|all:
              - ':\Users\'
              - '\Contacts\'
    selection_cli:
        - Image|endswith: '\PingCastle.exe'
        - OriginalFileName: PingCastle.exe
        - Product: 'Ping Castle'
        - CommandLine|contains:
              - '--scanner aclcheck'
              - '--scanner antivirus'
              - '--scanner computerversion'
              - '--scanner foreignusers'
              - '--scanner laps_bitlocker'
              - '--scanner localadmin'
              - '--scanner nullsession'
              - '--scanner nullsession-trust'
              - '--scanner oxidbindings'
              - '--scanner remote'
              - '--scanner share'
              - '--scanner smb'
              - '--scanner smb3querynetwork'
              - '--scanner spooler'
              - '--scanner startup'
              - '--scanner zerologon'
        - CommandLine|contains: '--no-enum-limit'
        - CommandLine|contains|all:
              - '--healthcheck'
              - '--level Full'
        - CommandLine|contains|all:
              - '--healthcheck'
              - '--server '
    condition: 1 of selection_parent_* and selection_parent_ext and selection_cli
falsepositives:
    - Unknown
level: high

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

1 of selection_parent_* and selection_parent_ext and selection_cli

Stage 1: `selection_parent_ext`

selection_parent_ext:
    ParentCommandLine|contains:
        - '.bat'
        - '.chm'
        - '.cmd'
        - '.hta'
        - '.htm'
        - '.html'
        - '.js'
        - '.lnk'
        - '.ps1'
        - '.vbe'
        - '.vbs'
        - '.wsf'

Stage 2: `selection_parent_path_1`

selection_parent_path_1:
    ParentCommandLine|contains:
        - ':\Perflogs\'
        - ':\Temp\'
        - ':\Users\Public\'
        - ':\Windows\Temp\'
        - '\AppData\Local\Temp'
        - '\AppData\Roaming\'
        - '\Temporary Internet'

Stage 3: `selection_parent_path_2`

selection_parent_path_2:
    - ParentCommandLine|contains|all:
          - ':\Users\'
          - '\Favorites\'
    - ParentCommandLine|contains|all:
          - ':\Users\'
          - '\Favourites\'
    - ParentCommandLine|contains|all:
          - ':\Users\'
          - '\Contacts\'

Stage 4: `selection_parent_ext`

selection_parent_ext:
    ParentCommandLine|contains:
        - '.bat'
        - '.chm'
        - '.cmd'
        - '.hta'
        - '.htm'
        - '.html'
        - '.js'
        - '.lnk'
        - '.ps1'
        - '.vbe'
        - '.vbs'
        - '.wsf'

Stage 5: `selection_cli`

selection_cli:
    - Image|endswith: '\PingCastle.exe'
    - OriginalFileName: PingCastle.exe
    - Product: 'Ping Castle'
    - CommandLine|contains:
          - '--scanner aclcheck'
          - '--scanner antivirus'
          - '--scanner computerversion'
          - '--scanner foreignusers'
          - '--scanner laps_bitlocker'
          - '--scanner localadmin'
          - '--scanner nullsession'
          - '--scanner nullsession-trust'
          - '--scanner oxidbindings'
          - '--scanner remote'
          - '--scanner share'
          - '--scanner smb'
          - '--scanner smb3querynetwork'
          - '--scanner spooler'
          - '--scanner startup'
          - '--scanner zerologon'
    - CommandLine|contains: '--no-enum-limit'
    - CommandLine|contains|all:
          - '--healthcheck'
          - '--level Full'
    - CommandLine|contains|all:
          - '--healthcheck'
          - '--server '

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	`--healthcheck` corpus 3 (sigma 3) `--level Full` corpus 3 (sigma 3) `--no-enum-limit` corpus 3 (sigma 3) `--scanner aclcheck` corpus 3 (sigma 3) `--scanner antivirus` corpus 3 (sigma 3) `--scanner computerversion` corpus 3 (sigma 3) `--scanner foreignusers` corpus 3 (sigma 3) `--scanner laps_bitlocker` corpus 3 (sigma 3) `--scanner localadmin` corpus 3 (sigma 3) `--scanner nullsession` corpus 3 (sigma 3) `--scanner nullsession-trust` corpus 3 (sigma 3) `--scanner oxidbindings` corpus 3 (sigma 3) `--scanner remote` corpus 3 (sigma 3) `--scanner share` corpus 3 (sigma 3) `--scanner smb` corpus 3 (sigma 3) `--scanner smb3querynetwork` corpus 3 (sigma 3) `--scanner spooler` corpus 3 (sigma 3) `--scanner startup` corpus 3 (sigma 3) `--scanner zerologon` corpus 3 (sigma 3) `--server` corpus 3 (sigma 3)
`Image`	ends_with	`\PingCastle.exe` corpus 2 (sigma 2)
`OriginalFileName`	eq	`PingCastle.exe` corpus 3 (sigma 3)
`ParentCommandLine`	match	`.bat` corpus 2 (sigma 1, splunk 1) `.chm` `.cmd` `.hta` `.htm` `.html` `.js` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `.lnk` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `.ps1` `.vbe` `.vbs` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `.wsf` `:\Perflogs\` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `:\Temp\` `:\Users\` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `:\Users\Public\` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `:\Windows\Temp\` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `\AppData\Local\Temp` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `\AppData\Roaming\` `\Contacts\` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `\Favorites\` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `\Favourites\` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `\Temporary Internet` corpus 2 (sigma 2)
`Product`	eq	`Ping Castle` corpus 2 (sigma 2)

`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)

PUA - PingCastle Execution From Potentially Suspicious Parent

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection_parent_ext`

Stage 2: `selection_parent_path_1`

Stage 3: `selection_parent_path_2`

Stage 4: `selection_parent_ext`

Stage 5: `selection_cli`

Indicators

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

PUA - PingCastle Execution From Potentially Suspicious Parent

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: condition

Stage 1: selection_parent_ext

Stage 2: selection_parent_path_1

Stage 3: selection_parent_path_2

Stage 4: selection_parent_ext

Stage 5: selection_cli

Indicators

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection_parent_ext`

Stage 2: `selection_parent_path_1`

Stage 3: `selection_parent_path_2`

Stage 4: `selection_parent_ext`

Stage 5: `selection_cli`