huntrule

Malicious WSUS Service Spawning Command Shell via Remote Code Execution

PremiumReviewedSigma · High · v1
Product
windows
Category
process_creation
Author
HuntRule
Published
2026-08-16
Updated
2026-08-28
AnalysisDetection

ATT&CK techniques

Initial Access → Execution

  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. C2

  13. Exfiltration

  14. Impact

What it detects

This rule detects the WSUS service or its IIS worker process spawning cmd or PowerShell, matching in-the-wild exploitation of the Windows Server Update Services remote code execution vulnerability. Successful exploitation grants command execution as the WSUS service account for reconnaissance and exfiltration. WSUS components have no legitimate reason to launch interactive interpreters.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1059.001 — drag to rearrange
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Malicious SharePoint w3wp Spawning Command Shell and PowerShell
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Malicious PowerShell UrlDecode Payload Spawned by SQL Server after FortiClient EMS Exploitation
Malicious IIS w3wp Worker Spawning Command Interpreter via SharePoint Web Shell
Suspicious SolarWinds Web Help Desk Java Process Spawning Command Shell
Malicious IIS Worker Process Spawning PowerShell via Gladinet CentreStack Exploit
Malicious WSUS Service Spawning Command Shell via Remote Code Execution
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.