Windows Named Pipe Stream Created with Known Hack Tool IMPHASHs

Alerts on Windows named file stream creation events whose IMPHASH matches common hack-tool binaries.

FreeReviewedSigma · High · v2
Product
windows
Category
create_stream_hash
Author
Florian Roth (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2022-08-24
Updated
2026-07-31

ATT&CK techniques

Defense Evasion
  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Initial Access

  4. Execution

  5. Persistence

  6. Priv Esc

  7. Cred Access

  8. Discovery

  9. Lateral Movement

  10. Collection

  11. C2

  12. Exfiltration

  13. Impact

What it detects

This rule flags Windows event data where a named pipe/file stream creation includes an IMPHASH value matching a set of known hack tool builds. Attackers commonly use these tools to perform credential theft and other post-exploitation actions, and the presence of their known build hashes in stream creation telemetry can indicate tool execution. It relies on Windows Sysmon create_stream_hash events that record IMPHASH values for created named file streams.

Related detections9 linkedT1564.004 — drag to rearrange
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Windows Process Creation: CLI CommandLine References NTFS ::$index_allocation Stream
Windows Hidden Directory Creation Using NTFS $INDEX_ALLOCATION Stream
Windows rundll32 Launching DLL From Alternate Data Stream (ADS) Paths
Windows suspicious file download URLs using direct IP address with script/binary extensions
Windows CreateStreamHash: Suspicious Downloads From File Sharing and Paste Websites
Windows Named Pipe Stream Created with Known Hack Tool IMPHASHs
Pivot detection · T1564.004 · 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.