Detection rules › Sigma
Suspicious PowerShell In Registry Run Keys
Detects potential PowerShell commands or code within registry run keys
MITRE ATT&CK coverage
| Tactic | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Persistence | T1547.001 Boot or Logon Autostart Execution: Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder |
| Privilege Escalation | T1547.001 Boot or Logon Autostart Execution: Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder |
Event coverage
| Provider | Event | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Sysmon | Event ID 13 | RegistryEvent (Value Set) |
Rule body yaml
title: Suspicious PowerShell In Registry Run Keys
id: 8d85cf08-bf97-4260-ba49-986a2a65129c
status: test
description: Detects potential PowerShell commands or code within registry run keys
references:
- https://github.com/frack113/atomic-red-team/blob/a9051c38de8a5320b31c7039efcbd3b56cf2d65a/atomics/T1547.001/T1547.001.md#atomic-test-9---systembc-malware-as-a-service-registry
- https://www.trendmicro.com/en_us/research/22/j/lv-ransomware-exploits-proxyshell-in-attack.html
- https://github.com/HackTricks-wiki/hacktricks/blob/e4c7b21b8f36c97c35b7c622732b38a189ce18f7/src/windows-hardening/windows-local-privilege-escalation/privilege-escalation-with-autorun-binaries.md
author: frack113, Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)
date: 2022-03-17
modified: 2025-07-18
tags:
- attack.privilege-escalation
- attack.persistence
- attack.t1547.001
logsource:
category: registry_set
product: windows
detection:
selection:
TargetObject|contains:
- '\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run' # Also covers "RunOnce" and "RunOnceEx"
- '\Software\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run'
- '\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\Run'
Details|contains:
- 'powershell'
- 'pwsh '
- 'FromBase64String'
- '.DownloadFile('
- '.DownloadString('
- ' -w hidden '
- ' -w 1 '
- '-windowstyle hidden'
- '-window hidden'
- ' -nop '
- ' -encodedcommand '
- '-ExecutionPolicy Bypass'
- 'Invoke-Expression'
- 'IEX ('
- 'Invoke-Command'
- 'ICM -'
- 'Invoke-WebRequest'
- 'IWR '
- 'Invoke-RestMethod'
- 'IRM '
- ' -noni '
- ' -noninteractive '
condition: selection
falsepositives:
- Legitimate admin or third party scripts. Baseline according to your environment
level: medium
Stages and Predicates
Stage 0: condition
selectionStage 1: selection
selection:
TargetObject|contains:
- '\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run'
- '\Software\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run'
- '\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\Run'
Details|contains:
- 'powershell'
- 'pwsh '
- 'FromBase64String'
- '.DownloadFile('
- '.DownloadString('
- ' -w hidden '
- ' -w 1 '
- '-windowstyle hidden'
- '-window hidden'
- ' -nop '
- ' -encodedcommand '
- '-ExecutionPolicy Bypass'
- 'Invoke-Expression'
- 'IEX ('
- 'Invoke-Command'
- 'ICM -'
- 'Invoke-WebRequest'
- 'IWR '
- 'Invoke-RestMethod'
- 'IRM '
- ' -noni '
- ' -noninteractive '
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 |
|---|---|---|
Details | match |
|
TargetObject | match |
|