Suspicious Execution of Forfiles Command (via process_creation)

title: Suspicious Execution of Forfiles Command (via process_creation)
id: c0c69b94-26f1-5519-a820-e6f3d9c2a7fd
status: stable
description: This rule detects the execution of "forfiles" with the "/c" flag. While this is an expected behavior of the tool, it can be misused to proxy execution through it with any binary. Can be leveraged to bypass application whitelisting.
references:
    - https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1059/
    - https://lolbas-project.github.io/lolbas/Binaries/Forfiles/
    - https://pentestlab.blog/2020/07/06/indirect-command-execution/
author: Huntrule Team
date: 2026-06-24
tags:
    - attack.execution
    - attack.t1059
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection_img:
        - Image|endswith: '\forfiles.exe'
        - OriginalFileName: 'forfiles.exe'
    selection_cli:
        CommandLine|contains|windash: ' -c '
    condition: all of selection_*
falsepositives:
    - Unknown
level: medium