Malicious PowerShell or Command Shell Spawned by SQL Server via xp_cmdshell

ATT&CK techniques

Execution

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
- T1059.001PowerShell
- T1059.003Windows Command Shell
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects the SQL Server process sqlservr.exe spawning PowerShell or cmd.exe, behavior produced when the GhostRedirector group abuses the xp_cmdshell stored procedure to run operating system commands. A database engine launching a shell indicates SQL-based remote code execution used for downloading tooling and establishing footholds on Windows servers.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1059.001 — drag to rearrange

MSSQL Server Process Spawning Command Shell via xp_cmdshell

Suspicious MSSQL xp_cmdshell OS Command Execution via sqlservr.exe (via process_creation)

Malicious Fire Ant Host-to-Guest Command Execution via VMware Tools (via process_creation)

Malicious Office Application Spawning a Command Shell or Script Interpreter (via process_creation)

Windows AppLocker Audit-Mode Events Indicate Files Would Have Been Blocked

Windows Process Creation: CrushFTP spawning PowerShell, CMD, and scripting tool execution

Windows: Suspicious child processes spawned by CrushFTP service

Windows Process Chain Involving Notepad++ Launched via RDPInit and Executed Through CMD

Windows Child Process Spawned from conhost.exe with --headless

Malicious PowerShell or Command Shell Spawned by SQL Server via xp_cmdshell

Pivot detection · T1059.001 · 9 related

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

Full detection rule

Unlock this rule to view and copy it

The detection logic is included with a plan. Everything else — context, mappings and implementation details — stays free on this page.

Sign in for 3 free unlocks

Signing in gives you 3 unlocks to spend on any rule in the library. No card, and they do not expire.

Also included

Unlocked rules convert on this page — to Splunk SPL or Splunk — Raw Index SPL or Microsoft Sentinel KQL or Microsoft Sentinel ASIM ASIM KQL or Microsoft Defender XDR KQL or Elastic Security KQL or Elastic Security Lucene or Elastic Security ES|QL or CrowdStrike Falcon CQL or SentinelOne PowerQuery or Palo Alto Cortex XDR XQL or Carbon Black Cloud Platform Search or Carbon Black EDR Process Search or Google Security Operations UDM Search or IBM QRadar AQL or Sumo Logic Cloud SIEM Rules expression or Rapid7 InsightIDR LEQL or Graylog Search or OpenSearch Lucene or OpenSearch PPL PPL or Grafana Loki LogQL or SQLite SQL or Zircolite SQLite — with the log-source profile the engine picked, the field map it used, and everything it could not express. Converting a rule you have unlocked costs no further credit.

See it run on a free rule →Convert your own rule →