huntrule

Windows PowerShell execution from C:\Users\Public

Flags PowerShell command lines that reference C:\Users\Public, indicating likely script execution from a common public staging area.

FreeReviewedSigma · High · v1
Product
windows
Category
process_creation
Author
Max Altgelt (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2022-04-06
Updated
2026-07-30
AnalysisDetection

ATT&CK techniques

Execution

  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 process creation where PowerShell (powershell.exe or pwsh.exe) is invoked with arguments pointing to scripts or content located in C:\Users\Public. Attackers may use this common writable public directory to stage files and then execute them to run code with the user’s context. The detection relies on Windows process creation telemetry, matching the PowerShell binary name and specific command-line substrings referencing C:\Users\Public and related flags.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1059.001 — drag to rearrange
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Malicious Mass Hyper-V Virtual Machine Shutdown via PowerShell by Kraken Ransomware
Suspicious PowerShell WebClient DownloadFile of Archive Payload (UAT-7237)
Suspicious SharePoint Worker Process Spawning Command Interpreter via ToolShell
Malicious Emmenhtal JavaScript Loader Spawning Encoded PowerShell
Suspicious Python Interpreter Launching Encoded PowerShell via subprocess
Windows PowerShell execution from C:\Users\Public
Pivot detection · T1059.001 · 9 related

Detection content is published as a reviewed draft. Tune thresholds and exclusions against your own telemetry before enabling this rule for alerting.