Query: detect Detects execution of different log query utilities and commands to search and dump the content of specific event logs or in logs
Matching passage: Sigma rule: Detects execution of different log query utilities and commands to search and dump the content of specific event logs or. Logsource: windows / process_creation. Rule: title: Potentially Suspicious EventLog Recon Activity Using Log Query Utilities id: beaa66d6-aa1b-4e3c-80f5-e0145369bfaf related: - id: 9cd55b6c-430a-4fa9-96f4-7cadf5229e9f type: derived status: test description: 'Detects execution of different log query utilities and commands to search and dump the content of specific event logs or look for specific event IDs. This technique is used by threat actors in order to extract sensitive information from events logs such as usernames, IP addresses, hostnames, etc. ' references: - http://blog.talosintelligence.com/2022/09/lazarus-three-rats.html - https://thedfirreport.com/2023/10/30/netsupport-intrusion-results-in-domain-compromise/ - https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/cybersecurity-advisories/aa23-144a - https://www.group-ib.com/blog/apt41-world-tour-2021/ - https://labs.withsecure.com/content/dam/labs/docs/f-secureLABS-tlp-white-lazarus-threat-intel-report2.pdf - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.diagnostics/get-winevent?view=powershell-7.3 - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.management/get-eventlog?view=powershell-5.1 - http://www.solomonson.com/posts/2010-07-09-reading-eventviewer-command-line/ - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/wevtutil - https://ptsecurity.com/research/pt-esc-threat-intelligence/striking-panda-attacks-apt31-today - https://www.cybertriage.com/artifact/terminalservices_remoteconnectionmanager_log/ - https://ponderthebits.com/2018/02/windows-rdp-related-event-logs-identification-tracking-and-investigation/ author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems), X__Junior (Nextron Systems) date: 2022-09-09 modified: 2025-12-02 tags: - attack.credential-access - attack.discovery - attack.t1552 - attack.t1087 logsource: category: process_creation product: windows detection: selection_wmi: CommandLine|contains|all: - Select - Win32_NTLogEvent selection_wevtutil_img: - Image|endswith: \wevtutil.exe - OriginalFileName: wevtutil.exe selection_wevtutil_cli: CommandLine|contains: - ' qe ' - ' query-events ' selection_wmic_img: - Image|endswith: \wmic.exe - OriginalFileName: wmic.exe selection_wmic_cli: CommandLine|contains: ' ntevent' selection_cmdlet: CommandLine|contains: - 'Get-WinEvent ' - 'get-eventlog ' selection_logs_name: CommandLine|contains: - Microsoft-Windows-PowerShell - Microsoft-Windows-Security-Auditing - Microsoft-Windows-TerminalServices-LocalSessionManager - Microsof
Near-miss passage: Sigma rule: Detects the execution of Notepad to open a file that has the string "password" which may indicate unauthorized access to. Logsource: windows / process_creation. Rule: title: Notepad Password Files Discovery id: 3b4e950b-a3ea-44d3-877e-432071990709 status: experimental description: Detects the execution of Notepad to open a file that has the string "password" which may indicate unauthorized access to credentials or suspicious activity. references: - https://thedfirreport.com/2025/02/24/confluence-exploit-leads-to-lockbit-ransomware/ - https://intel.thedfirreport.com/eventReports/view/57 author: The DFIR Report tags: - attack.discovery - attack.t1083 date: 2025-02-21 logsource: product: windows category: process_creation detection: selection: ParentImage|endswith: \explorer.exe Image|endswith: \notepad.exe CommandLine|endswith: - password*.txt - password*.csv - password*.doc - password*.xls condition: selection falsepositives: - Legitimate use of opening files from remote hosts by administrators or users. However, storing passwords in text readable format could potentially be a violation of the organization's policy. Any match should be investigated further. level: low