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Windows Process Creation: Mftrace.exe Child Process Execution

Alerts on child processes spawned by Mftrace.exe, which can be abused to execute arbitrary binaries on Windows.

FreeReviewedSigma · Medium · v1
Product
windows
Category
process_creation
Author
Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2022-06-09
Updated
2026-07-30
AnalysisDetection

ATT&CK techniques

Execution → Defense Evasion

  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 when Mftrace.exe (the “Trace log generation tool for Media Foundation Tools”) spawns a child process. Attackers may abuse Mftrace.exe to run arbitrary binaries indirectly through a trusted tool, helping execution blend into normal activity. It relies on Windows process creation telemetry, specifically the parent process image name ending with \mftrace.exe.

Reporting behind it

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