Renamed PAExec Execution

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

Detects execution of renamed version of PAExec. Often used by attackers

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Stealth	`T1202` Indirect Command Execution

Event coverage

Provider	Event	Title
Sysmon	Event ID 1	Process creation

Rule body yaml

title: Renamed PAExec Execution
id: c4e49831-1496-40cf-8ce1-b53f942b02f9
related:
    - id: 7b0666ad-3e38-4e3d-9bab-78b06de85f7b
      type: obsolete
status: test
description: Detects execution of renamed version of PAExec. Often used by attackers
references:
    - https://www.poweradmin.com/paexec/
    - https://summit.fireeye.com/content/dam/fireeye-www/summit/cds-2018/presentations/cds18-technical-s05-att&cking-fin7.pdf
author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), Jason Lynch
date: 2021-05-22
modified: 2024-11-23
tags:
    - attack.stealth
    - attack.t1202
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection:
        - Description: 'PAExec Application'
        - OriginalFileName: 'PAExec.exe'
        - Product|contains: 'PAExec'
        - Hashes|contains:
              - IMPHASH=11D40A7B7876288F919AB819CC2D9802
              - IMPHASH=6444f8a34e99b8f7d9647de66aabe516
              - IMPHASH=dfd6aa3f7b2b1035b76b718f1ddc689f
              - IMPHASH=1a6cca4d5460b1710a12dea39e4a592c
    filter_main_known_location:
        - Image|endswith: '\paexec.exe'
        - Image|startswith: 'C:\Windows\PAExec-'
    condition: selection and not 1 of filter_main_*
falsepositives:
    - Weird admins that rename their tools
    - Software companies that bundle PAExec with their software and rename it, so that it is less embarrassing
    - When executed with the "-s" flag. PAExec will copy itself to the "C:\Windows\" directory with a different name. Usually like this "PAExec-[XXXXX]-[ComputerName]"
level: high

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

selection and not 1 of filter_main_*

Stage 1: `selection`

selection:
    - Description: 'PAExec Application'
    - OriginalFileName: 'PAExec.exe'
    - Product|contains: 'PAExec'
    - Hashes|contains:
          - IMPHASH=11D40A7B7876288F919AB819CC2D9802
          - IMPHASH=6444f8a34e99b8f7d9647de66aabe516
          - IMPHASH=dfd6aa3f7b2b1035b76b718f1ddc689f
          - IMPHASH=1a6cca4d5460b1710a12dea39e4a592c

Stage 2: `not filter_main_known_location`

filter_main_known_location:
    - Image|endswith: '\paexec.exe'
    - Image|startswith: 'C:\Windows\PAExec-'

Exclusions

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

Field	Kind	Excluded values
`Image`	ends_with	`\paexec.exe`
`Image`	starts_with	`C:\Windows\PAExec-`

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
`Description`	eq	`PAExec Application`
`Hashes`	match	`IMPHASH=11D40A7B7876288F919AB819CC2D9802` `IMPHASH=1a6cca4d5460b1710a12dea39e4a592c` `IMPHASH=6444f8a34e99b8f7d9647de66aabe516` `IMPHASH=dfd6aa3f7b2b1035b76b718f1ddc689f`
`OriginalFileName`	eq	`PAExec.exe`
`Product`	match	`PAExec`

`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)

Renamed PAExec Execution

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection`

Stage 2: `not filter_main_known_location`

Exclusions

Indicators

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

Renamed PAExec Execution

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: condition

Stage 1: selection

Stage 2: not filter_main_known_location

Exclusions

Indicators

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection`

Stage 2: `not filter_main_known_location`