WSF/JSE/JS/VBA/VBE File Execution Via Cscript/Wscript

Status: test
Severity: medium
Log source: category process_creation, product windows
Author: Michael Haag
Source: github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma

Detects script file execution (.js, .jse, .vba, .vbe, .vbs, .wsf, .wsh) by Wscript/Cscript.

Known false positives

Some additional tuning is required. It is recommended to add the user profile path in CommandLine if it is getting too noisy.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Execution	`T1059.005` Command and Scripting Interpreter: Visual Basic `T1059.007` Command and Scripting Interpreter: JavaScript

Telemetry coverage

Provider	Record / event type
Sysmon	Event ID 1: Process creation

Rule body

title: WSF/JSE/JS/VBA/VBE File Execution Via Cscript/Wscript
id: 1e33157c-53b1-41ad-bbcc-780b80b58288
related:
    - id: 23250293-eed5-4c39-b57a-841c8933a57d
      type: obsolete
    - id: cea72823-df4d-4567-950c-0b579eaf0846
      type: derived
status: test
description: Detects script file execution (.js, .jse, .vba, .vbe, .vbs, .wsf, .wsh) by Wscript/Cscript.
references:
    - https://thedfirreport.com/2023/10/30/netsupport-intrusion-results-in-domain-compromise/
    - https://redcanary.com/blog/gootloader/
author: Michael Haag
date: 2019-01-16
modified: 2026-02-17
tags:
    - attack.execution
    - attack.t1059.005
    - attack.t1059.007
    - detection.threat-hunting
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection_img:
        - OriginalFileName:
              - 'wscript.exe'
              - 'cscript.exe'
        - Image|endswith:
              - '\wscript.exe'
              - '\cscript.exe'
    selection_cli:
        CommandLine|contains:
            - '.js'
            - '.jse'
            - '.vba'
            - '.vbe'
            - '.vbs'
            - '.wsf'
            - '.wsh'
    condition: all of selection_*
falsepositives:
    - Some additional tuning is required. It is recommended to add the user profile path in CommandLine if it is getting too noisy.
level: medium

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

all of selection_*

Stage 1: `selection_img`

selection_img:
    - OriginalFileName:
          - 'wscript.exe'
          - 'cscript.exe'
    - Image|endswith:
          - '\wscript.exe'
          - '\cscript.exe'

Stage 2: `selection_cli`

selection_cli:
    CommandLine|contains:
        - '.js'
        - '.jse'
        - '.vba'
        - '.vbe'
        - '.vbs'
        - '.wsf'
        - '.wsh'

Indicators

These rows show field, operator, and value matches.

Field	Kind	Values	Search
`CommandLine`	match	`.js` corpus 9 (sigma 9) `.jse` corpus 3 (sigma 2, kusto 1) `.vba` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `.vbe` corpus 5 (sigma 5) `.vbs` corpus 7 (sigma 7) `.wsf` corpus 4 (sigma 3, elastic 1) `.wsh` corpus 4 (sigma 4)	`field:"CommandLine" kind:match`
`Image`	ends_with	`\cscript.exe` corpus 72 (sigma 72) `\wscript.exe` corpus 74 (sigma 74)	`field:"Image" kind:ends_with`
`OriginalFileName`	eq	`cscript.exe` corpus 32 (sigma 17, elastic 15) `wscript.exe` corpus 38 (elastic 21, sigma 17)	`field:"OriginalFileName" kind:eq`

WSF/JSE/JS/VBA/VBE File Execution Via Cscript/Wscript

Known false positives

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Telemetry coverage

Rule body

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: condition

Stage 1: selection_img

Stage 2: selection_cli

Indicators

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection_img`

Stage 2: `selection_cli`