Antivirus signature match for exploitation framework indicators
Alerts when AV signature names contain indicators tied to exploitation frameworks and related backdoors.
- Category
- antivirus
- Author
- Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), Arnim Rupp (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
- Published
- 2018-09-09
- Updated
- 2026-07-31
ATT&CK techniques
Execution → C2Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
Exfiltration
Impact
What it detects
This rule flags Antivirus alerts whose signature text contains known exploitation framework and related payload/tool indicators (e.g., ATK/Cobalt, Metasploit, Meterpreter, PowerSploit). Such matches matter because attackers commonly deploy these tooling components to establish access, execute commands, or maintain command-and-control. The detection relies on Antivirus telemetry that records the signature name or alert text including the specified strings.
Reporting behind it
- nextron-systems.comhttps://www.nextron-systems.com/?s=antivirus
- virustotal.comhttps://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/925b0b28472d4d79b4bf92050e38cc2b8f722691c713fc28743ac38551bc3797
- virustotal.comhttps://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/8f8daabe1c8ceb5710949283818e16c4aa8059bf2ce345e2f2c90b8692978424
- virustotal.comhttps://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/d9669f7e3eb3a9cdf6a750eeb2ba303b5ae148a43e36546896f1d1801e912466
- github.comhttps://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/category/antivirus/av_exploitation_framework.yml
Changelog
v5- v5Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
- v4Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
- v3Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
- v2Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
- v1No changelog recorded for this version.2026-07-30
Detection content is published as a reviewed draft. Tune thresholds and exclusions against your own telemetry before enabling this rule for alerting.
title: Antivirus signature match for exploitation framework indicators
id: 5dfcf4d9-a67b-4864-afc0-670074a838f9
status: stable
description: This rule flags Antivirus alerts whose signature text contains known exploitation framework and related payload/tool indicators (e.g., ATK/Cobalt, Metasploit, Meterpreter, PowerSploit). Such matches matter because attackers commonly deploy these tooling components to establish access, execute commands, or maintain command-and-control. The detection relies on Antivirus telemetry that records the signature name or alert text including the specified strings.
references:
- https://www.nextron-systems.com/?s=antivirus
- https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/925b0b28472d4d79b4bf92050e38cc2b8f722691c713fc28743ac38551bc3797
- https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/8f8daabe1c8ceb5710949283818e16c4aa8059bf2ce345e2f2c90b8692978424
- https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/d9669f7e3eb3a9cdf6a750eeb2ba303b5ae148a43e36546896f1d1801e912466
- https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/category/antivirus/av_exploitation_framework.yml
author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), Arnim Rupp, Huntrule Team
date: 2018-09-09
modified: 2026-06-15
tags:
- attack.execution
- attack.t1203
- attack.command-and-control
- attack.t1219.002
logsource:
category: antivirus
detection:
selection:
Signature|contains:
- ATK/Cobalt
- Backdoor.Cobalt
- Beacon
- Brutel
- BruteR
- CbltStr
- CobaltStr
- COBALT.SMD
- COBEACON
- Cometer
- Exploit.Script.CVE
- IISExchgSpawnCMD
- Metasploit
- Meterpreter
- MeteTool
- Mpreter
- MsfShell
- PowerSploit
- Razy
- Rozena
- Sbelt
- Seatbelt
- Sliver
- Swrort
condition: selection
falsepositives:
- Unlikely
level: critical
license: DRL-1.1
related:
- id: 238527ad-3c2c-4e4f-a1f6-92fd63adb864
type: derived