Malicious SUNBURST Command and Control DNS Query to avsvmcloud Domain (via dns_query)

PremiumReviewedSigma · Critical · v1
Product
windows
Category
dns_query
Author
HuntRule
Published
2026-07-23
Updated
2026-08-28

ATT&CK techniques

C2
  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Initial Access

  4. Execution

  5. Persistence

  6. Priv Esc

  7. Defense Evasion

  8. Cred Access

  9. Discovery

  10. Lateral Movement

  11. Collection

  12. Exfiltration

  13. Impact

What it detects

This rule detects DNS lookups containing the avsvmcloud domain used as the SUNBURST first-stage command and control and victim beaconing channel. The backdoor encodes environment data into subdomains of avsvmcloud during its DGA-style callbacks. Detecting any avsvmcloud query is a high fidelity indicator of a SUNBURST compromised host.

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Malicious SUNBURST Command and Control DNS Query to avsvmcloud Domain (via dns_query)
Pivot detection · T1071.004 · 9 related

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