huntrule

Windows: Detect Named Pipe Creation with Koh Default Names

Alerts on Windows named pipe creation with Koh default identifiers in the pipe name.

FreeReviewedSigma · Critical · v2
Product
windows
Category
pipe_created
Author
Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2022-07-08
Updated
2026-07-31
AnalysisDetection

ATT&CK techniques

Priv Esc → Cred Access

  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 creation of named pipes whose names contain the Koh default substrings '\imposecost' and '\imposingcost'. Named pipes can be used by offensive tooling to establish stealthy inter-process communication, including for post-exploitation actions. Telemetry required is Windows named pipe creation events (e.g., Sysmon named pipe events) that include the PipeName field.

Reporting behind it

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Suspicious Token Request Using Microsoft Authentication Broker Client to Obtain Primary Refresh Token (via azure)
Suspicious Salesforce Connected App OAuth Authorization from VPN Egress
Suspicious Command Shell Spawned by lmadmin License Manager via process_creation
Suspicious Potato Privilege Escalation Tool Execution via process_creation
Suspicious W32TIME Named Pipe Activity Linked to RPC Privilege Escalation (via pipe_created)
Windows: Detect Named Pipe Creation with Koh Default Names
Pivot detection · T1528 · 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.