Suspicious Virtual Machine Detection via Get-MpComputerStatus and Win32_VideoController (via ps_script)

PremiumReviewedSigma · Medium · v1
Product
windows
Category
ps_script
Author
HuntRule
Published
2026-05-15
Updated
2026-08-28

ATT&CK techniques

Defense Evasion → Discovery
  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Initial Access

  4. Execution

  5. Persistence

  6. Priv Esc

  7. Defense Evasion

  8. Cred Access

  9. Lateral Movement

  10. Collection

  11. C2

  12. Exfiltration

  13. Impact

What it detects

This rule detects PowerShell anti-analysis checks used by MintsLoader that read the IsVirtualMachine property from Get-MpComputerStatus or query the Win32_VideoController AdapterDACType to fingerprint virtual display adapters. The loader aborts when it believes it runs inside a sandbox. Scripted inspection of these virtualization indicators is characteristic of evasive malware rather than administration.

Related detections9 linkedT1497.001 — drag to rearrange
Suspicious HeartCrypt Sandbox Detection DLL Load
Possible DarkCloud Geo-IP Lookup to showip.net
Suspicious Anti-VM WMI Thermal Zone Temperature Query via Command Line
Suspicious VirtualBox Registry Artifact Anti-VM Check via Command Line
Suspicious PowerShell WMI Video Controller Sandbox Evasion Check via OXLoader
Suspicious System Profiler Hardware Enumeration (via process_creation)
MacOS Sysctl Usage for System Discovery (hw., kern., machdep.)
macOS Process Execution of system_profiler for System Discovery via Specific Data Types
PowerShell Virtualization Environment Discovery via WMI in ScriptBlockLogging (Windows)
Suspicious Virtual Machine Detection via Get-MpComputerStatus and Win32_VideoController (via ps_script)
Pivot detection · T1497.001 · 9 related

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