huntrule

Windows Process Creation: cmd.exe Launching with PowerShell in .lnk Link Command

Alerts when explorer launches cmd.exe with command lines containing both PowerShell and a .lnk reference.

FreeReviewedSigma · Medium · v1
Product
windows
Category
process_creation
Author
frack113 (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2022-02-06
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 flags process creation events where cmd.exe is started by explorer.exe and the command line contains both 'powershell' and '.lnk'. Attackers often embed PowerShell execution in shortcut (.lnk) link content to trigger script execution on user interaction. Telemetry relies on Windows process creation logging that includes the parent process image, the child process image, and the full command line.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1059.001 — drag to rearrange
Suspicious Script Interpreter Spawned by Explorer via ClickFix Run Dialog (via process_creation)
Suspicious PowerShell Download Cradle via ClickFix Fake CAPTCHA (via process_creation)
Suspicious PowerShell EncodedCommand Spawned From Command Shell via Process Creation
Suspicious Script Download via Curl and PowerShell by Dohdoor
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 Process Creation: cmd.exe Launching with PowerShell in .lnk Link Command
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.