Malicious Metasploit PsExec Named Pipe Command Execution

PremiumReviewedSigma · High · v1
Product
windows
Category
process_creation
Author
HuntRule
Published
2026-07-17
Updated
2026-08-28

ATT&CK techniques

Execution → Defense Evasion
  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Initial Access

  4. Persistence

  5. Defense Evasion

  6. Cred Access

  7. Discovery

  8. Lateral Movement

  9. Collection

  10. C2

  11. Exfiltration

  12. Impact

What it detects

This rule detects a command shell echoing data into a local named pipe, the service-based execution pattern produced by the Metasploit PsExec module when it installs a service that writes command output back through a pipe. This is used for remote code execution and lateral movement from a compromised host. Legitimate software does not echo into a raw named pipe from cmd.exe in this way.

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Detection content is published as a reviewed draft. Tune thresholds and exclusions against your own telemetry before enabling this rule for alerting.