Suspicious Execution of Cloudflared Portable (via process_creation)

title: Suspicious Execution of Cloudflared Portable (via process_creation)
id: f6b2ae22-f6c0-5b06-9098-6cb5b039b2e0
status: stable
description: This rule detects the execution of the "cloudflared" binary from a non standard location.
references:
    - https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1090/001/
    - https://developers.cloudflare.com/cloudflare-one/connections/connect-networks/do-more-with-tunnels/trycloudflare/
    - https://github.com/cloudflare/cloudflared
    - https://www.intrinsec.com/akira_ransomware/
    - https://www.guidepointsecurity.com/blog/tunnel-vision-cloudflared-abused-in-the-wild/
    - https://github.com/cloudflare/cloudflared/releases
author: Huntrule Team
tags:
    - attack.command-and-control
    - attack.t1090.001
date: 2026-04-29
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection:
        Image|endswith: '\cloudflared.exe'
    filter_main_admin_location:
        Image|contains:
            - ':\Program Files (x86)\cloudflared\'
            - ':\Program Files\cloudflared\'
    condition: selection and not 1 of filter_main_*
falsepositives:
    - Unknown
level: medium