Windows cmd.exe Output Redirection to User Writable Paths

Flags cmd.exe commands that redirect output (>) into temp/AppData and other commonly targeted directories.

FreeReviewedSigma · Medium · v2

Product: windows
Category: process_creation
Author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published: 2022-07-12
Updated: 2026-07-31

ATT&CK techniques

Defense Evasion

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
- T1218System Binary Proxy Execution
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule flags process creations where cmd.exe is invoked and the command line contains output redirection using the “>”/“>>” operators to common user-writable directories such as %APPDATA%, %TEMP%, and user profile paths. Attackers often use redirection to capture the results of recon or enumeration commands into files for later staging or exfiltration. It relies on Windows process creation telemetry, specifically matching cmd.exe process names and substrings in the full command line.

Reporting behind it

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Windows cmd.exe Output Redirection to User Writable Paths

Pivot detection · T1218 · 9 related

Changelog

v2
Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
v1
No changelog recorded for this version.2026-07-30

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

windows-cmd-exe-command-line-output-redirection-to-suspicious-user-or-system-pat-8e0bb260

title: Windows cmd.exe Output Redirection to User Writable Paths
id: 7b236dd9-7f7a-41f1-ad5e-4bb602e5891e
related:
  - id: aa2efee7-34dd-446e-8a37-40790a66efd7
    type: derived
  - id: 4f4eaa9f-5ad4-410c-a4be-bc6132b0175a
    type: similar
  - id: 8e0bb260-d4b2-4fff-bb8d-3f82118e6892
    type: derived
status: test
description: This rule flags process creations where cmd.exe is invoked and the command line contains output redirection using the “>”/“>>” operators to common user-writable directories such as %APPDATA%, %TEMP%, and user profile paths. Attackers often use redirection to capture the results of recon or enumeration commands into files for later staging or exfiltration. It relies on Windows process creation telemetry, specifically matching cmd.exe process names and substrings in the full command line.
references:
  - https://thedfirreport.com/2022/07/11/select-xmrig-from-sqlserver/
  - https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_cmd_redirection_susp_folder.yml
author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems), Huntrule Team
date: 2022-07-12
modified: 2024-03-19
tags:
  - attack.stealth
  - attack.t1218
logsource:
  category: process_creation
  product: windows
detection:
  selection_img:
    - Image|endswith: \cmd.exe
    - OriginalFileName: Cmd.Exe
  selection_cli_1:
    CommandLine|contains:
      - ">?%APPDATA%\\"
      - ">?%TEMP%\\"
      - ">?%TMP%\\"
      - ">?%USERPROFILE%\\"
      - ">?C:\\ProgramData\\"
      - ">?C:\\Temp\\"
      - ">?C:\\Users\\Public\\"
      - ">?C:\\Windows\\Temp\\"
  selection_cli_2:
    CommandLine|contains:
      - " >"
      - '">'
      - "'>"
    CommandLine|contains|all:
      - C:\Users\
      - \AppData\Local\
  condition: selection_img and 1 of selection_cli_*
falsepositives:
  - Legitimate admin or third party scripts used for diagnostic collection might generate some false positives
level: medium
license: DRL-1.1

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