PowerShell Encoded or Download-Cradle Command Line (via process_creation)

ATT&CK techniques

Execution → Defense Evasion

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
- T1059.001PowerShell
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
- T1027Obfuscated Files or Information
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects PowerShell launched with an encoded command or an in-memory download-and-execute cradle on its command line, such as base64-encoded payloads or remote content pulled through Net.WebClient and piped into Invoke-Expression. PowerShell abuse is the single most prevalent technique in the Red Canary Threat Detection Report, used to stage and run payloads while evading disk-based controls. Flagging these command-line patterns catches the execution stage before follow-on activity.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1027 — drag to rearrange

Suspicious Encoded PowerShell Using Base64 Stream Decompression Routines (via process_creation)

Suspicious PowerShell In-Memory Execution with AES Decryption

Suspicious Encoded PowerShell Command Execution

Suspicious PEAKLIGHT Memory-Only PowerShell Downloader Flags (via process_creation)

Obfuscated PowerShell Script: Indirect Cmdlet Execution via ExportedCommands Array Index

Suspicious PowerShell String Concatenation Obfuscation for Batch Extension via LNK (via process_creation)

Suspicious PowerShell Spawned from PyInstaller MEI Extraction Folder (via process_creation)

Suspicious PowerShell Encoded Command Execution

Suspicious PowerShell Invoke-Expression with Replace Obfuscation

PowerShell Encoded or Download-Cradle Command Line (via process_creation)

Pivot detection · T1027 · 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 →