PUA: TruffleHog Execution on Windows via trufflehog.exe Process Launch

Flags Windows execution of trufflehog.exe, especially when targeting common code and collaboration platforms and using --results=verified.

FreeReviewedSigma · Medium · v1

Product: windows
Category: process_creation
Author: Swachchhanda Shrawan Poudel (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published: 2025-09-24
Updated: 2026-07-30

Analysis Detection

ATT&CK techniques

Cred Access → Discovery

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
- T1552.001Credentials In Files
Discovery
- T1083File and Directory Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule identifies Windows processes where the executable path ends with trufflehog.exe, including command lines that reference multiple supported platforms (e.g., Git, GitHub, Jira, Slack, SharePoint) and cloud/storage targets (s3, gcs). It also matches executions that include the flag --results=verified, indicating focused secret verification behavior. Although TruffleHog can be used legitimately for security assessments and CI workflows, attackers may leverage it to discover and validate exposed credentials or secrets across repositories and services.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1552.001 — drag to rearrange

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PUA: TruffleHog Execution on Windows via trufflehog.exe Process Launch

Pivot detection · T1552.001 · 9 related

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

pua-trufflehog-execution-on-windows-via-trufflehog-exe-process-launch-44030449

title: "PUA: TruffleHog Execution on Windows via trufflehog.exe Process Launch"
id: 5965a290-ca5e-4ceb-9a4d-e1f5521b0492
related:
  - id: d7a650c4-226c-451e-948f-cc490db506aa
    type: similar
  - id: 44030449-b0df-4c94-aae1-502359ab28ee
    type: derived
status: experimental
description: This rule identifies Windows processes where the executable path ends with trufflehog.exe, including command lines that reference multiple supported platforms (e.g., Git, GitHub, Jira, Slack, SharePoint) and cloud/storage targets (s3, gcs). It also matches executions that include the flag --results=verified, indicating focused secret verification behavior. Although TruffleHog can be used legitimately for security assessments and CI workflows, attackers may leverage it to discover and validate exposed credentials or secrets across repositories and services.
references:
  - https://github.com/trufflesecurity/trufflehog
  - https://www.getsafety.com/blog-posts/shai-hulud-npm-attack
  - https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_pua_trufflehog.yml
author: Swachchhanda Shrawan Poudel (Nextron Systems), Huntrule Team
date: 2025-09-24
tags:
  - attack.discovery
  - attack.credential-access
  - attack.t1083
  - attack.t1552.001
logsource:
  category: process_creation
  product: windows
detection:
  selection_img:
    Image|endswith: \trufflehog.exe
  selection_cli_platform:
    CommandLine|contains:
      - " docker --image "
      - " Git "
      - " GitHub "
      - " Jira "
      - " Slack "
      - " Confluence "
      - " SharePoint "
      - " s3 "
      - " gcs "
  selection_cli_verified:
    CommandLine|contains: " --results=verified"
  condition: selection_img or all of selection_cli_*
falsepositives:
  - Legitimate use of TruffleHog by security teams or developers.
level: medium
regression_tests_path: regression_data/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_pua_trufflehog/info.yml
license: DRL-1.1

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