Windows: Detect KrbRelayUp.exe HackTool Process Execution

ATT&CK techniques

Defense Evasion → Lateral Movement

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
- T1550.003Pass the Ticket
Cred Access
- T1558.003Kerberoasting
Discovery
Lateral Movement
- T1550.003Pass the Ticket
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule flags Windows process creation where the executable name or original filename indicates KrbRelayUp, and the command line contains multiple KrbRelayUp-specific argument patterns. KrbRelayUp is a credential- and privilege-impacting utility used to perform local privilege escalation in certain domain configurations. It relies on process creation telemetry, including the image path/name and the full command line arguments.

Reporting behind it

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Windows Process Creation: RemoteKrbRelay Kerberos Relay Tool Execution

Windows: Detect KrbRelayUp.exe HackTool Process Execution

Pivot detection · T1558.003 · 9 related

Changelog

v2

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-detect-krbrelayup-exe-process-execution-with-relay-domain-and-scm-spawn--12827a56

title: "Windows: Detect KrbRelayUp.exe HackTool Process Execution"
id: 6dcf7738-0ad7-44cf-a66f-ce3a975e2c5f
status: test
description: This rule flags Windows process creation where the executable name or original filename indicates KrbRelayUp, and the command line contains multiple KrbRelayUp-specific argument patterns. KrbRelayUp is a credential- and privilege-impacting utility used to perform local privilege escalation in certain domain configurations. It relies on process creation telemetry, including the image path/name and the full command line arguments.
references:
  - https://github.com/Dec0ne/KrbRelayUp
  - https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_hktl_krbrelayup.yml
author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), Huntrule Team
date: 2022-04-26
modified: 2023-02-04
tags:
  - attack.credential-access
  - attack.t1558.003
  - attack.lateral-movement
  - attack.t1550.003
logsource:
  category: process_creation
  product: windows
detection:
  selection_img:
    - Image|endswith: \KrbRelayUp.exe
    - OriginalFileName: KrbRelayUp.exe
  selection_cli_1:
    CommandLine|contains|all:
      - " relay "
      - " -Domain "
      - " -ComputerName "
  selection_cli_2:
    CommandLine|contains|all:
      - " krbscm "
      - " -sc "
  selection_cli_3:
    CommandLine|contains|all:
      - " spawn "
      - " -d "
      - " -cn "
      - " -cp "
  condition: 1 of selection_*
falsepositives:
  - Unlikely
level: high
license: DRL-1.1
related:
  - id: 12827a56-61a4-476a-a9cb-f3068f191073
    type: derived

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