Detection rules › Sigma
Suspicious Process Masquerading As SvcHost.EXE
Detects a suspicious process that is masquerading as the legitimate "svchost.exe" by naming its binary "svchost.exe" and executing from an uncommon location. Adversaries often disguise their malicious binaries by naming them after legitimate system processes like "svchost.exe" to evade detection.
MITRE ATT&CK coverage
| Tactic | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Stealth | T1036.005 Masquerading: Match Legitimate Resource Name or Location |
Event coverage
| Provider | Event | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Sysmon | Event ID 1 | Process creation |
Rule body yaml
title: Suspicious Process Masquerading As SvcHost.EXE
id: be58d2e2-06c8-4f58-b666-b99f6dc3b6cd
related:
- id: 01d2e2a1-5f09-44f7-9fc1-24faa7479b6d
type: similar
- id: e4a6b256-3e47-40fc-89d2-7a477edd6915
type: similar
status: test
description: |
Detects a suspicious process that is masquerading as the legitimate "svchost.exe" by naming its binary "svchost.exe" and executing from an uncommon location.
Adversaries often disguise their malicious binaries by naming them after legitimate system processes like "svchost.exe" to evade detection.
references:
- https://tria.ge/240731-jh4crsycnb/behavioral2
- https://redcanary.com/blog/threat-detection/process-masquerading/
author: Swachchhanda Shrawan Poudel
date: 2024-08-07
tags:
- attack.stealth
- attack.t1036.005
logsource:
category: process_creation
product: windows
detection:
selection:
Image|endswith: '\svchost.exe'
filter_main_img_location:
Image:
- 'C:\Windows\System32\svchost.exe'
- 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\svchost.exe'
filter_main_ofn:
OriginalFileName: 'svchost.exe'
condition: selection and not 1 of filter_main_*
falsepositives:
- Unlikely
level: high
regression_tests_path: regression_data/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_svchost_masqueraded_execution/info.yml
Stages and Predicates
Stage 0: condition
selection and not 1 of filter_main_*Stage 1: selection
selection:
Image|endswith: '\svchost.exe'
Stage 2: not filter_main_*
filter_main_img_location:
Image:
- 'C:\Windows\System32\svchost.exe'
- 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\svchost.exe'
filter_main_ofn:
OriginalFileName: 'svchost.exe'
Exclusions
Top-level NOT(...) conjuncts: predicates this rule actively suppresses.
| Field | Kind | Excluded values |
|---|---|---|
Image | eq | C:\Windows\SysWOW64\svchost.exe |
Image | eq | C:\Windows\System32\svchost.exe |
OriginalFileName | eq | svchost.exe |
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 |
|---|---|---|
Image | ends_with |
|