Windows: findstr.exe LSASS keyword matching for process reconnaissance
Alert on find.exe/findstr.exe command lines containing "lsass", indicating potential LSASS-focused reconnaissance.
- Product
- windows
- Category
- process_creation
- Author
- Florian Roth (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
- Published
- 2022-08-12
- Updated
- 2026-07-31
ATT&CK techniques
Cred AccessRecon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
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 findstr.exe (or find.exe) is invoked with command-line arguments containing the keyword "lsass". Such usage can indicate an attempt to enumerate or locate information related to the LSASS process, which attackers may target for credential-related objectives. The detection relies on process creation telemetry including Image (ending with \find.exe or \findstr.exe), OriginalFileName, and CommandLine content matching for specific "lsass" strings.
Reporting behind it
Changelog
v2- v2Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
- v1No 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.
title: "Windows: findstr.exe LSASS keyword matching for process reconnaissance"
id: 259c6a65-1d09-46ad-83b1-06a8456102fb
status: test
description: This rule flags Windows process creation events where findstr.exe (or find.exe) is invoked with command-line arguments containing the keyword "lsass". Such usage can indicate an attempt to enumerate or locate information related to the LSASS process, which attackers may target for credential-related objectives. The detection relies on process creation telemetry including Image (ending with \find.exe or \findstr.exe), OriginalFileName, and CommandLine content matching for specific "lsass" strings.
references:
- https://blog.talosintelligence.com/2022/08/recent-cyber-attack.html?m=1
- https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_findstr_lsass.yml
author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), Huntrule Team
date: 2022-08-12
modified: 2024-06-04
tags:
- attack.credential-access
- attack.t1552.006
logsource:
category: process_creation
product: windows
detection:
selection_findstr_img:
- Image|endswith:
- \find.exe
- \findstr.exe
- OriginalFileName:
- FIND.EXE
- FINDSTR.EXE
selection_findstr_cli:
CommandLine|contains: lsass
selection_special:
CommandLine|contains|windash:
- ' /i "lsass'
- " /i lsass.exe"
- findstr "lsass
- findstr lsass
- findstr.exe "lsass
- findstr.exe lsass
condition: all of selection_findstr_* or selection_special
falsepositives:
- Unknown
level: high
regression_tests_path: regression_data/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_findstr_lsass/info.yml
license: DRL-1.1
related:
- id: fe63010f-8823-4864-a96b-a7b4a0f7b929
type: derived