Potential Data Exfiltration Activity Via CommandLine Tools

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

Detects the use of various CLI utilities exfiltrating data via web requests

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Execution	`T1059.001` Command and Scripting Interpreter: PowerShell

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: Potential Data Exfiltration Activity Via CommandLine Tools
id: 7d1aaf3d-4304-425c-b7c3-162055e0b3ab
status: test
description: Detects the use of various CLI utilities exfiltrating data via web requests
references:
    - https://www.sentinelone.com/blog/living-off-windows-defender-lockbit-ransomware-sideloads-cobalt-strike-through-microsoft-security-tool/
author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
date: 2022-08-02
modified: 2025-10-19
tags:
    - attack.execution
    - attack.t1059.001
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection_iwr:
        Image|endswith:
            - '\powershell_ise.exe'
            - '\powershell.exe'
            - '\pwsh.exe'
            - '\cmd.exe'
        CommandLine|contains:
            - 'curl '
            - 'Invoke-RestMethod'
            - 'Invoke-WebRequest'
            - 'irm '
            - 'iwr '
            - 'wget '
        CommandLine|contains|all:
            - ' -ur' # Shortest possible version of the -uri flag
            - ' -me' # Shortest possible version of the -method flag
            - ' -b'
            - ' POST '
    selection_curl:
        Image|endswith: '\curl.exe'
        CommandLine|contains: '--ur' # Shortest possible version of the --uri flag
    selection_curl_data:
        CommandLine|contains:
            - ' -d ' # Shortest possible version of the --data flag
            - ' --data '
    selection_wget:
        Image|endswith: '\wget.exe'
        CommandLine|contains:
            - '--post-data'
            - '--post-file'
    payloads:
        - CommandLine|re:
              - 'net\s+view'
              - 'sc\s+query'
        - CommandLine|contains:
              - 'Get-Content'
              - 'GetBytes'
              - 'hostname'
              - 'ifconfig'
              - 'ipconfig'
              - 'netstat'
              - 'nltest'
              - 'qprocess'
              - 'systeminfo'
              - 'tasklist'
              - 'ToBase64String'
              - 'whoami'
        - CommandLine|contains|all:
              - 'type '
              - ' > '
              - ' C:\'
    condition: (selection_iwr or all of selection_curl* or selection_wget) and payloads
falsepositives:
    - Unlikely
level: high

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

(selection_iwr or all of selection_curl* or selection_wget) and payloads

Stage 1: `selection_iwr`

selection_iwr:
    Image|endswith:
        - '\powershell_ise.exe'
        - '\powershell.exe'
        - '\pwsh.exe'
        - '\cmd.exe'
    CommandLine|contains:
        - 'curl '
        - 'Invoke-RestMethod'
        - 'Invoke-WebRequest'
        - 'irm '
        - 'iwr '
        - 'wget '
    CommandLine|contains|all:
        - ' -ur'
        - ' -me'
        - ' -b'
        - ' POST '

Stage 2: `selection_curl`

selection_curl:
    Image|endswith: '\curl.exe'
    CommandLine|contains: '--ur'

Stage 3: `selection_curl_data`

selection_curl_data:
    CommandLine|contains:
        - ' -d '
        - ' --data '

Stage 4: `selection_wget`

selection_wget:
    Image|endswith: '\wget.exe'
    CommandLine|contains:
        - '--post-data'
        - '--post-file'

Stage 5: `payloads`

payloads:
    - CommandLine|re:
          - 'net\s+view'
          - 'sc\s+query'
    - CommandLine|contains:
          - 'Get-Content'
          - 'GetBytes'
          - 'hostname'
          - 'ifconfig'
          - 'ipconfig'
          - 'netstat'
          - 'nltest'
          - 'qprocess'
          - 'systeminfo'
          - 'tasklist'
          - 'ToBase64String'
          - 'whoami'
    - CommandLine|contains|all:
          - 'type '
          - ' > '
          - ' C:\'

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	`--data` corpus 3 (sigma 3) `-b` `-d` corpus 8 (sigma 7, splunk 1) `-me` `-ur` corpus 3 (sigma 2, chronicle 1) `>` corpus 5 (sigma 5) `C:\` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `POST` `--post-data` `--post-file` `--ur` `Get-Content` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `GetBytes` `Invoke-RestMethod` corpus 5 (sigma 5) `Invoke-WebRequest` corpus 13 (sigma 10, elastic 1, chronicle 1, kusto 1) `ToBase64String` `curl` corpus 12 (sigma 11, chronicle 1) `hostname` corpus 2 (sigma 1, splunk 1) `ifconfig` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `ipconfig` corpus 4 (sigma 3, kusto 1) `irm` corpus 5 (sigma 5) `iwr` corpus 13 (sigma 11, chronicle 2) `netstat` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `nltest` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `qprocess` `systeminfo` corpus 6 (sigma 4, splunk 1, kusto 1) `tasklist` corpus 5 (sigma 5) `type` corpus 6 (sigma 6) `wget` corpus 8 (sigma 7, chronicle 1) `whoami` corpus 13 (sigma 9, splunk 2, elastic 1, kusto 1)
`CommandLine`	regex_match	`net\s+view` `sc\s+query`
`Image`	ends_with	`\cmd.exe` corpus 130 (sigma 130) `\curl.exe` corpus 30 (sigma 30) `\powershell.exe` corpus 182 (sigma 182) `\powershell_ise.exe` corpus 41 (sigma 41) `\pwsh.exe` corpus 168 (sigma 168) `\wget.exe` corpus 9 (sigma 9)

`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)

Potential Data Exfiltration Activity Via CommandLine Tools

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection_iwr`

Stage 2: `selection_curl`

Stage 3: `selection_curl_data`

Stage 4: `selection_wget`

Stage 5: `payloads`

Indicators

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

Potential Data Exfiltration Activity Via CommandLine Tools

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: condition

Stage 1: selection_iwr

Stage 2: selection_curl

Stage 3: selection_curl_data

Stage 4: selection_wget

Stage 5: payloads

Indicators

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection_iwr`

Stage 2: `selection_curl`

Stage 3: `selection_curl_data`

Stage 4: `selection_wget`

Stage 5: `payloads`