PowerShell Remote Thread Creation (Windows CreateRemoteThread)

Alerts when PowerShell creates a remote thread in another process, excluding CompatTelRunner.exe activity.

FreeReviewedSigma · Medium · v5

Product: windows
Category: create_remote_thread
Author: Nikita Nazarov, oscd.community (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2026-07-31

ATT&CK techniques

Execution

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
- T1059.001PowerShell
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule identifies when a PowerShell process (powershell.exe or pwsh.exe) creates a remote thread in another process. Remote thread creation is a common technique for executing code within the context of a separate process, which can help attackers evade detection and persist execution. It relies on Windows telemetry that records remote thread creation events and includes the calling process image and parent image (notably excluding CompatTelRunner.exe).

Reporting behind it

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PowerShell Remote Thread Creation (Windows CreateRemoteThread)

Pivot detection · T1059.001 · 9 related

Changelog

v5
Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
v4
Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
v3
Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
v2
Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
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.

windows-powershell-remote-thread-creation-via-createremotethread-eeb2e3dc

title: PowerShell Remote Thread Creation (Windows CreateRemoteThread)
id: e7769490-b512-495d-9c1f-b2da9efaeb15
related:
  - id: 99b97608-3e21-4bfe-8217-2a127c396a0e
    type: derived
  - id: eeb2e3dc-c1f4-40dd-9bd5-149ee465ad50
    type: derived
status: test
description: This rule identifies when a PowerShell process (powershell.exe or pwsh.exe) creates a remote thread in another process. Remote thread creation is a common technique for executing code within the context of a separate process, which can help attackers evade detection and persist execution. It relies on Windows telemetry that records remote thread creation events and includes the calling process image and parent image (notably excluding CompatTelRunner.exe).
references:
  - https://speakerdeck.com/heirhabarov/hunting-for-powershell-abuse
  - https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules-threat-hunting/windows/create_remote_thread/create_remote_thread_win_powershell_generic.yml
author: Nikita Nazarov, oscd.community, Huntrule Team
date: 2020-10-06
modified: 2023-11-10
tags:
  - attack.execution
  - attack.t1059.001
  - detection.threat-hunting
logsource:
  product: windows
  category: create_remote_thread
detection:
  selection:
    SourceImage|endswith:
      - \powershell.exe
      - \pwsh.exe
  filter_main_compattelrunner:
    SourceParentImage|endswith: :\Windows\System32\CompatTelRunner.exe
  condition: selection and not 1 of filter_main_*
falsepositives:
  - Unknown
level: medium
license: DRL-1.1

Convert

This rule as a query you can run. Uses no unlock credit.

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