huntrule

Suspicious PsExec Remote Execution Command Line

PremiumReviewedSigma · Medium · v1
Product
windows
Category
process_creation
Author
HuntRule
Published
2026-11-03
Updated
2026-11-03
AnalysisDetection

ATT&CK techniques

Lateral Movement

  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Initial Access

  4. Execution

  5. Persistence

  6. Priv Esc

  7. Defense Evasion

  8. Cred Access

  9. Discovery

  10. Lateral Movement

  11. Collection

  12. C2

  13. Exfiltration

  14. Impact

What it detects

This rule detects PsExec being invoked against a remote host with the accepteula flag and a UNC target which is the command line pattern shown in the WithSecure lateral movement lab where PsExec launched cmd on a domain controller. Remote PsExec execution with an explicit target host is a common lateral movement technique that deserves review.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1021.002 — drag to rearrange
Suspicious Process Spawned by WmiPrvSE for Remote Execution
Suspicious PsExec Named Pipe Creation on Target Host
Malicious NetExec SMB Enumeration Execution (via process_creation)
Malicious WMIexec Style Command Output Redirection to Local Admin Share
Malicious Cobalt Strike Default Named Pipe Activity
Suspicious PsExec Service Launching Encoded PowerShell Payload
Suspicious Impacket Style Command Execution with ADMIN Share Output Redirect
Suspicious Active Directory Reconnaissance via In-Memory Offensive PowerShell (via ps_script)
Suspicious NetExec Post-Exploitation Tool Execution via nxc (via process_creation)
Suspicious PsExec Remote Execution Command Line
Pivot detection · T1021.002 · 9 related

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