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Windows Process Creation: BITSAdmin Downloading File with Suspicious Extension

Flags bitsadmin.exe commands that transfer or add files with suspicious extensions based on process creation command-line content.

FreeReviewedSigma · High · v2
Product
windows
Category
process_creation
Author
Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2022-06-28
Updated
2026-07-31
AnalysisDetection

ATT&CK techniques

Execution → C2

  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 flags Windows process executions of bitsadmin.exe where the command line includes transfer-related switches (/transfer, /create, /addfile) and the command line contains one of several potentially suspicious file extensions. Attackers may use BITSAdmin to stealthily download payloads or staging files, so correlating BITSAdmin activity with extension indicators can highlight likely malicious file retrieval. It relies on process creation telemetry capturing the Image/OriginalFileName of bitsadmin.exe and the full CommandLine.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1105 — drag to rearrange
Windows Process Creation: bitsadmin Downloads Files to Suspicious Directories
Windows BITSAdmin Downloads from File-Sharing Domains
Windows BITSAdmin File Download via bitsadmin.exe with Transfer/Addfile Arguments
Suspicious BITSAdmin File Transfer Into ProgramData via Process Creation (via process_creation)
Suspicious File Download via bitsadmin Transfer by Medusa Ransomware
Suspicious bitsadmin Download of Python Payload via COLDRIVER
Suspicious SCMBanker Toolkit Staging via Bitsadmin to Public Directory
Suspicious DLL Download to ProgramData via Start-BitsTransfer (via process_creation)
Suspicious Remote Script Transfer via Bitsadmin (via process_creation)
Windows Process Creation: BITSAdmin Downloading File with Suspicious Extension
Pivot detection · T1105 · 9 related

Changelog

v2
  1. v2
    Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
  2. 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.