Windows Process Execution of Bloodhound/SharpHound Command-Line Collection Options

Alerts on SharpHound/Bloodhound-like processes launching with discovery-focused command-line parameters.

FreeReviewedSigma · High · v2

Product: windows
Category: process_creation
Author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2026-07-31

ATT&CK techniques

Execution → Discovery

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
- T1059.001PowerShell
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule flags Windows process creation events where the executable and metadata indicate BloodHound/SharpHound, and the command line contains common collection and collection-method parameters. Attackers rely on Bloodhound/SharpHound-style discovery tooling to enumerate Active Directory relationships and configuration for subsequent targeting. The detection depends on process creation telemetry capturing Image/metadata fields and full CommandLine content.

Reporting behind it

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Windows Process Execution of Bloodhound/SharpHound Command-Line Collection Options

Pivot detection · T1069.002 · 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-hacktool-execution-bloodhound-sharphound-command-line-parameter-matching-f376c8a7

title: Windows Process Execution of Bloodhound/SharpHound Command-Line Collection Options
id: eb151aa5-905b-4298-b512-e4a9c15c4873
status: test
description: This rule flags Windows process creation events where the executable and metadata indicate BloodHound/SharpHound, and the command line contains common collection and collection-method parameters. Attackers rely on Bloodhound/SharpHound-style discovery tooling to enumerate Active Directory relationships and configuration for subsequent targeting. The detection depends on process creation telemetry capturing Image/metadata fields and full CommandLine content.
references:
  - https://github.com/BloodHoundAD/BloodHound
  - https://github.com/BloodHoundAD/SharpHound
  - https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_hktl_bloodhound_sharphound.yml
author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), Huntrule Team
date: 2019-12-20
modified: 2023-02-04
tags:
  - attack.discovery
  - attack.t1087.001
  - attack.t1087.002
  - attack.t1482
  - attack.t1069.001
  - attack.t1069.002
  - attack.execution
  - attack.t1059.001
logsource:
  category: process_creation
  product: windows
detection:
  selection_img:
    - Product|contains: SharpHound
    - Description|contains: SharpHound
    - Company|contains:
        - SpecterOps
        - evil corp
    - Image|contains:
        - \Bloodhound.exe
        - \SharpHound.exe
  selection_cli_1:
    CommandLine|contains:
      - " -CollectionMethod All "
      - " --CollectionMethods Session "
      - " --Loop --Loopduration "
      - " --PortScanTimeout "
      - ".exe -c All -d "
      - Invoke-Bloodhound
      - Get-BloodHoundData
  selection_cli_2:
    CommandLine|contains|all:
      - " -JsonFolder "
      - " -ZipFileName "
  selection_cli_3:
    CommandLine|contains|all:
      - " DCOnly "
      - " --NoSaveCache "
  condition: 1 of selection_*
falsepositives:
  - Other programs that use these command line option and accepts an 'All' parameter
level: high
license: DRL-1.1
related:
  - id: f376c8a7-a2d0-4ddc-aa0c-16c17236d962
    type: derived

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