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Windows Process Creation: Suspicious Child Executables Spawned by 3CXDesktopApp.exe

Alerts on suspicious execution utilities spawned by 3CXDesktopApp.exe via Windows process creation events.

FreeReviewedSigma · High · v4
Product
windows
Category
process_creation
Author
Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2023-03-29
Updated
2026-07-31
AnalysisDetection

ATT&CK techniques

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 Windows process creation events where 3CXDesktopApp.exe spawns a child process matching common scripting or execution utilities (cmd.exe, cscript.exe, mshta.exe, powershell.exe/pwsh.exe, regsvr32.exe, rundll32.exe, wscript.exe). Such parent-child relationships can indicate abnormal execution and potential compromise or supply-chain tampering involving 3CXDesktopApp. It relies on process creation telemetry including parent and child image paths to match specific executable endings.

Reporting behind it

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Windows Process Creation: Suspicious Child Executables Spawned by 3CXDesktopApp.exe
Pivot detection · T1218 · 9 related

Changelog

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