Suspicious Named Pipe Pipe2PortCtrl Created by Winnti Malware

PremiumReviewedSigma · High · v1
Product
windows
Category
pipe_created
Author
HuntRule
Published
2026-09-13
Updated
2026-09-13

ATT&CK techniques

Execution
  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Initial Access

  4. Persistence

  5. Priv Esc

  6. Defense Evasion

  7. Cred Access

  8. Discovery

  9. Lateral Movement

  10. Collection

  11. C2

  12. Exfiltration

  13. Impact

What it detects

This rule detects creation of the named pipe Pipe2PortCtrl, an internal communication channel used by Winnti malware components in Operation CuckooBees. Attackers use this hardcoded pipe for inter-module signaling and port-control coordination on the host. The specific pipe name is a distinctive artifact of the Winnti toolkit.

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