Detection rules › Sigma
Potentially Suspicious JWT Token Search Via CLI
Detects potentially suspicious search for JWT tokens via CLI by looking for the string "eyJ0eX" or "eyJhbG". JWT tokens are often used for access-tokens across various applications and services like Microsoft 365, Azure, AWS, Google Cloud, and others. Threat actors may search for these tokens to steal them for lateral movement or privilege escalation.
MITRE ATT&CK coverage
| Tactic | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Credential Access | T1528 Steal Application Access Token, T1552.001 Unsecured Credentials: Credentials In Files |
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: Potentially Suspicious JWT Token Search Via CLI
id: 6d3a3952-6530-44a3-8554-cf17c116c615
status: test
description: |
Detects potentially suspicious search for JWT tokens via CLI by looking for the string "eyJ0eX" or "eyJhbG".
JWT tokens are often used for access-tokens across various applications and services like Microsoft 365, Azure, AWS, Google Cloud, and others.
Threat actors may search for these tokens to steal them for lateral movement or privilege escalation.
references:
- https://mrd0x.com/stealing-tokens-from-office-applications/
- https://www.scip.ch/en/?labs.20240523
author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems), kagebunsher
date: 2022-10-25
modified: 2025-10-21
tags:
- attack.credential-access
- attack.t1528
- attack.t1552.001
logsource:
category: process_creation
product: windows
detection:
selection_tools:
CommandLine|contains:
- 'find '
- 'find.exe'
- 'findstr'
- 'select-string '
- 'strings'
selection_jwt_string:
CommandLine|contains:
- 'eyJ0eXAiOi' # {"typ":
- 'eyJhbGciOi' # {"alg":
- ' eyJ0eX'
- ' "eyJ0eX"'
- " 'eyJ0eX'"
- ' eyJhbG'
- ' "eyJhbG"'
- " 'eyJhbG'"
condition: all of selection_*
falsepositives:
- Unknown
level: medium
Stages and Predicates
Stage 0: condition
all of selection_*Stage 1: selection_tools
selection_tools:
CommandLine|contains:
- 'find '
- 'find.exe'
- 'findstr'
- 'select-string '
- 'strings'
Stage 2: selection_jwt_string
selection_jwt_string:
CommandLine|contains:
- 'eyJ0eXAiOi'
- 'eyJhbGciOi'
- ' eyJ0eX'
- ' "eyJ0eX"'
- " 'eyJ0eX'"
- ' eyJhbG'
- ' "eyJhbG"'
- " 'eyJhbG'"
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 |
|