Suspicious Network Connection Initiated To Visual Studio Code Tunnels Domain (via network_connection)

title: Suspicious Network Connection Initiated To Visual Studio Code Tunnels Domain (via network_connection)
id: cb290a30-fc59-55eb-82e1-464c8d2fe9ce
status: stable
description: This rule detects network connections to Visual Studio Code tunnel domains initiated by a process on a system. Adversaries can misuse that feature to establish a reverse shell or persistence on a machine.
references:
    - https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1572/
    - https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1567/
    - https://ipfyx.fr/post/visual-studio-code-tunnel/
    - https://badoption.eu/blog/2023/01/31/code_c2.html
    - https://cydefops.com/vscode-data-exfiltration
author: Huntrule Team
date: 2026-07-11
tags:
    - attack.exfiltration
    - attack.command-and-control
    - attack.t1567
    - attack.t1572
logsource:
    category: network_connection
    product: windows
detection:
    selection:
        Initiated: 'true'
        DestinationHostname|endswith: '.tunnels.api.visualstudio.com'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Unknown
level: medium