Windows PowerShell DNS TXT Download Cradle via nslookup (Process Creation)
Flags PowerShell spawning nslookup configured to query DNS TXT records as a download cradle.
FreeReviewedSigma · Medium · v1
- Product
- windows
- Category
- process_creation
- Author
- Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
- Published
- 2022-09-05
- Updated
- 2026-07-30
What it detects
This rule flags process creation where PowerShell (powershell.exe/pwsh.exe) starts nslookup.exe and uses DNS TXT queries to retrieve data. Attackers can abuse DNS to stage or fetch payload content from DNS records while blending into common name-resolution activity. The detection relies on Windows process creation telemetry, including parent process image path and the command line arguments indicating a TXT query via nslookup.
Reporting behind it
Detection content is published as a reviewed draft. Tune thresholds and exclusions against your own telemetry before enabling this rule for alerting.
windows-powershell-dns-txt-download-cradle-via-nslookup-process-creation-1b3b01c7
title: Windows PowerShell DNS TXT Download Cradle via nslookup (Process Creation)
id: f34be208-c22a-4de7-adf2-92b737f3a78a
related:
- id: 72671447-4352-4413-bb91-b85569687135
type: obsolete
- id: 999bff6d-dc15-44c9-9f5c-e1051bfc86e1
type: similar
- id: 1b3b01c7-84e9-4072-86e5-fc285a41ff23
type: derived
status: test
description: This rule flags process creation where PowerShell (powershell.exe/pwsh.exe) starts nslookup.exe and uses DNS TXT queries to retrieve data. Attackers can abuse DNS to stage or fetch payload content from DNS records while blending into common name-resolution activity. The detection relies on Windows process creation telemetry, including parent process image path and the command line arguments indicating a TXT query via nslookup.
references:
- https://twitter.com/Alh4zr3d/status/1566489367232651264
- https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_nslookup_poweshell_download.yml
author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems), Huntrule Team
date: 2022-09-05
modified: 2022-12-19
tags:
- attack.stealth
logsource:
category: process_creation
product: windows
detection:
selection_img:
- Image|contains: \nslookup.exe
- OriginalFileName: \nslookup.exe
selection_cmd:
ParentImage|endswith:
- \powershell.exe
- \pwsh.exe
CommandLine|contains:
- " -q=txt "
- " -querytype=txt "
condition: all of selection_*
falsepositives:
- Unknown
level: medium
license: DRL-1.1