huntrule

PowerShell Access to LSASS on Windows Suggesting Credential Dumping

Alerts when PowerShell (powershell.exe/pwsh.exe) accesses lsass.exe, indicating potential credential dumping.

FreeReviewedSigma · Medium · v5
Product
windows
Category
process_access
Author
oscd.community, Natalia Shornikova (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2020-10-06
Updated
2026-07-31
AnalysisDetection

ATT&CK techniques

Cred Access

  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 flags Windows PowerShell or pwsh processes that request access to the LSASS process. Access to lsass.exe is commonly associated with credential dumping attempts, making this behavior a useful indicator for investigation. It relies on process access telemetry that records SourceImage and TargetImage relationships.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1003.001 — drag to rearrange
Malicious WDigest Credential Caching Enabled via Registry (via registry_set)
Malicious Credential Dumping via Mimikatz Sekurlsa Command
Malicious Mimikatz Sekurlsa Logonpasswords Credential Dump
Malicious LSASS Credential Dump via ProcDump (via process_creation)
Malicious LSASS Memory Dump via comsvcs.dll by Salt Typhoon
Malicious LSASS Dump via Process Access (via process_access)
Malicious LSASS Credential Dump with LSASSY - Process (via process_creation)
Malicious LSASS Credential Dump with LSASSY - Admin Share (via security)
Malicious Task Manager Used for LSASS Dump - Kernel (via security)
PowerShell Access to LSASS on Windows Suggesting Credential Dumping
Pivot detection · T1003.001 · 9 related

Changelog

v5
  1. v5
    Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
  2. v4
    Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
  3. v3
    Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
  4. v2
    Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
  5. 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.