New RUN Key Pointing to Suspicious Folder

Status: experimental
Severity: high
Log source: product windows, category registry_set
Author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), Markus Neis, Sander Wiebing, Swachchhanda Shrawan Poudel (Nextron Systems)
Source: github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma

Detects suspicious new RUN key element pointing to an executable in a suspicious folder

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: New RUN Key Pointing to Suspicious Folder
id: 02ee49e2-e294-4d0f-9278-f5b3212fc588
status: experimental
description: Detects suspicious new RUN key element pointing to an executable in a suspicious folder
references:
    - https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research/2018/08/fin7-pursuing-an-enigmatic-and-evasive-global-criminal-operation.html
    - https://github.com/HackTricks-wiki/hacktricks/blob/e4c7b21b8f36c97c35b7c622732b38a189ce18f7/src/windows-hardening/windows-local-privilege-escalation/privilege-escalation-with-autorun-binaries.md
author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), Markus Neis, Sander Wiebing, Swachchhanda Shrawan Poudel (Nextron Systems)
date: 2018-08-25
modified: 2025-10-06
tags:
    - attack.privilege-escalation
    - attack.persistence
    - attack.t1547.001
logsource:
    category: registry_set
    product: windows
detection:
    selection_target:
        TargetObject|contains:
            - '\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run'
            - '\Software\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run'
            - '\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\Run'
    selection_suspicious_paths_1:
        Details|contains:
            - ':\Perflogs'
            - :\ProgramData'
            - ':\Windows\Temp'
            - ':\Temp'
            - '\AppData\Local\Temp'
            - '\AppData\Roaming'
            - ':\$Recycle.bin'
            - ':\Users\Default'
            - ':\Users\public'
            - '%temp%'
            - '%tmp%'
            - '%Public%'
            - '%AppData%'
    selection_suspicious_paths_user_1:
        Details|contains: ':\Users\'
    selection_suspicious_paths_user_2:
        Details|contains:
            - '\Favorites'
            - '\Favourites'
            - '\Contacts'
            - '\Music'
            - '\Pictures'
            - '\Documents'
            - '\Photos'
    filter_main_windows_update:
        TargetObject|contains: '\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce\'
        Image|startswith: 'C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download\'
        Details|contains|all:
            - 'rundll32.exe '
            - 'C:\WINDOWS\system32\advpack.dll,DelNodeRunDLL32'
        Details|contains:
            - '\AppData\Local\Temp\'
            - 'C:\Windows\Temp\'
    filter_optional_spotify:
        Image|endswith:
            - 'C:\Program Files\Spotify\Spotify.exe'
            - 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Spotify\Spotify.exe'
            - '\AppData\Roaming\Spotify\Spotify.exe'
        TargetObject|endswith: 'SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\Spotify'
        Details|endswith: 'Spotify.exe --autostart --minimized'
    condition: selection_target and (selection_suspicious_paths_1 or (all of selection_suspicious_paths_user_* )) and not 1 of filter_main_* and not 1 of filter_optional_*
falsepositives:
    - Software using weird folders for updates
level: high

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

selection_target and (selection_suspicious_paths_1 or (all of selection_suspicious_paths_user_* )) and not 1 of filter_main_* and not 1 of filter_optional_*

Stage 1: `selection_target`

selection_target:
    TargetObject|contains:
        - '\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run'
        - '\Software\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run'
        - '\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\Run'

Stage 2: `selection_suspicious_paths_1`

selection_suspicious_paths_1:
    Details|contains:
        - ':\Perflogs'
        - :\ProgramData'
        - ':\Windows\Temp'
        - ':\Temp'
        - '\AppData\Local\Temp'
        - '\AppData\Roaming'
        - ':\$Recycle.bin'
        - ':\Users\Default'
        - ':\Users\public'
        - '%temp%'
        - '%tmp%'
        - '%Public%'
        - '%AppData%'

Stage 3: `selection_suspicious_paths_user_1`

selection_suspicious_paths_user_1:
    Details|contains: ':\Users\'

Stage 4: `selection_suspicious_paths_user_2`

selection_suspicious_paths_user_2:
    Details|contains:
        - '\Favorites'
        - '\Favourites'
        - '\Contacts'
        - '\Music'
        - '\Pictures'
        - '\Documents'
        - '\Photos'

Stage 5: `not filter_main_windows_update`

filter_main_windows_update:
    TargetObject|contains: '\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce\'
    Image|startswith: 'C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download\'
    Details|contains|all:
        - 'rundll32.exe '
        - 'C:\WINDOWS\system32\advpack.dll,DelNodeRunDLL32'
    Details|contains:
        - '\AppData\Local\Temp\'
        - 'C:\Windows\Temp\'

Stage 6: `not filter_optional_spotify`

filter_optional_spotify:
    Image|endswith:
        - 'C:\Program Files\Spotify\Spotify.exe'
        - 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Spotify\Spotify.exe'
        - '\AppData\Roaming\Spotify\Spotify.exe'
    TargetObject|endswith: 'SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\Spotify'
    Details|endswith: 'Spotify.exe --autostart --minimized'

Exclusions

Top-level NOT(...) conjuncts: predicates this rule actively suppresses.

Field	Kind	Excluded values
`Details`	match	`C:\Windows\Temp\`
`Details`	match	`\AppData\Local\Temp\`
`Details`	match	`C:\WINDOWS\system32\advpack.dll,DelNodeRunDLL32`
`Details`	match	`rundll32.exe`
`Image`	starts_with	`C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download\`
`TargetObject`	match	`\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce\`
`Image`	ends_with	`C:\Program Files (x86)\Spotify\Spotify.exe`
`Image`	ends_with	`C:\Program Files\Spotify\Spotify.exe`
`Image`	ends_with	`\AppData\Roaming\Spotify\Spotify.exe`
`Details`	ends_with	`Spotify.exe --autostart --minimized`
`TargetObject`	ends_with	`SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\Spotify`

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	`%AppData%` corpus 4 (sigma 3, chronicle 1) `%Public%` corpus 2 (sigma 1, chronicle 1) `%temp%` corpus 5 (sigma 4, chronicle 1) `%tmp%` corpus 5 (sigma 4, chronicle 1) `:\$Recycle.bin` `:\Perflogs` `:\ProgramData'` `:\Temp` `:\Users\` corpus 4 (sigma 4) `:\Users\Default` `:\Users\public` `:\Windows\Temp` `\AppData\Local\Temp` `\AppData\Roaming` `\Contacts` `\Documents` `\Favorites` `\Favourites` `\Music` `\Photos` `\Pictures`
`TargetObject`	match	`\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\Run` corpus 4 (sigma 3, kusto 1) `\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run` corpus 4 (sigma 4) `\Software\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run` corpus 3 (sigma 3)

`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)

New RUN Key Pointing to Suspicious Folder

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection_target`

Stage 2: `selection_suspicious_paths_1`

Stage 3: `selection_suspicious_paths_user_1`

Stage 4: `selection_suspicious_paths_user_2`

Stage 5: `not filter_main_windows_update`

Stage 6: `not filter_optional_spotify`

Exclusions

Indicators

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

New RUN Key Pointing to Suspicious Folder

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: condition

Stage 1: selection_target

Stage 2: selection_suspicious_paths_1

Stage 3: selection_suspicious_paths_user_1

Stage 4: selection_suspicious_paths_user_2

Stage 5: not filter_main_windows_update

Stage 6: not filter_optional_spotify

Exclusions

Indicators

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection_target`

Stage 2: `selection_suspicious_paths_1`

Stage 3: `selection_suspicious_paths_user_1`

Stage 4: `selection_suspicious_paths_user_2`

Stage 5: `not filter_main_windows_update`

Stage 6: `not filter_optional_spotify`