Suspicious Execution of Use of Pcalua For (via process_creation)

title: Suspicious Execution of Use of Pcalua For (via process_creation)
id: 997d263c-3bfe-56f3-993d-c0da6f5b37fb
status: stable
description: This rule detects execition of commands and binaries from the context of The program compatibility assistant (Pcalua.exe). This can be used as a LOLBIN to bypass application whitelisting.
references:
    - https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1059/
    - https://lolbas-project.github.io/lolbas/Binaries/Pcalua/
    - https://pentestlab.blog/2020/07/06/indirect-command-execution/
author: Huntrule Team
date: 2026-06-09
tags:
    - attack.execution
    - attack.t1059
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection:
        Image|endswith: '\pcalua.exe'
        CommandLine|contains: ' -a'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Unknown
level: medium