Suspicious Import LDAP Data Interchange Format File Through Ldifde.EXE (via process_creation)

title: Suspicious Import LDAP Data Interchange Format File Through Ldifde.EXE (via process_creation)
id: 0900ea1e-fbb2-5043-ba3e-c0e811359a33
status: stable
description: This rule detects the execution of "Ldifde.exe" with the import flag "-i". The can be misused to include HTTP-based arguments which will enable the arbitrary download of files from a remote server.
references:
    - https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1105/
    - https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1218/
    - https://twitter.com/0gtweet/status/1564968845726580736
    - https://strontic.github.io/xcyclopedia/library/ldifde.exe-979DE101F5059CEC1D2C56967CA2BAC0.html
    - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-server-2012-r2-and-2012/cc731033(v=ws.11)
author: 'Huntrule Team'
date: 2026-05-27
tags:
    - attack.command-and-control
    - attack.stealth
    - attack.t1218
    - attack.t1105
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection_img:
        - Image|endswith: '\ldifde.exe'
        - OriginalFileName: 'ldifde.exe'
    selection_cli:
        CommandLine|contains|all:
            - '-i'
            - '-f'
    condition: all of selection_*
falsepositives:
    - Unknown
level: medium