huntrule

Windows Named Pipe Creation Matching Cobalt Strike Default Pipe Prefixes

Flags Windows named pipe creation where PipeName matches known Cobalt Strike default pipe prefixes.

FreeReviewedSigma · Critical · v2
Product
windows
Category
pipe_created
Author
Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), Wojciech Lesicki (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2021-05-25
Updated
2026-07-31
AnalysisDetection

ATT&CK techniques

Priv Esc → Defense Evasion

  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 identifies Windows named pipe creation events where the pipe name contains or starts with common prefixes associated with Cobalt Strike default modules. Named pipes can be used for stealthy inter-process communication and can help attackers blend malicious functionality into legitimate-looking Windows IPC patterns. The detection relies on telemetry that records created named pipe names (e.g., Sysmon named pipe event data) and evaluates the PipeName field for the specified substrings/prefixes.

Reporting behind it

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Suspicious AppLaunch.exe Spawned As Injection Target (via process_creation)
Suspicious BugSleep Marker File in Public Directory
Suspicious CRAT Injection Named Pipe ChromeUpdatePipe (via pipe_created)
AsyncRAT Injector libPK.dll Written to Public Folder (via file_event)
FlawedGrace spawning threat injection target
Windows Named Pipe Creation Matching Cobalt Strike Default Pipe Prefixes
Pivot detection · T1055 · 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.