Suspicious Child Process Spawned by Diskshadow.exe (Windows Process Creation)

ATT&CK techniques

Defense Evasion

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
- T1218System Binary Proxy Execution
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule flags process executions where the parent process is Diskshadow.exe and the child process image matches a small set of commonly abused Windows binaries. Attackers may use Diskshadow.exe to launch another executable, potentially evading parent/child correlation or application allowlisting controls. It relies on Windows process creation telemetry with parent image and child image path/name matching.

Reporting behind it

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Suspicious Child Process Spawned by Diskshadow.exe (Windows Process Creation)

Pivot detection · T1218 · 9 related

Changelog

v2

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-process-creation-suspicious-child-processes-spawned-by-diskshadow-exe-9f546b25

title: Suspicious Child Process Spawned by Diskshadow.exe (Windows Process Creation)
id: 8ddfe84e-7ffe-4259-a97c-ccb979a34de2
related:
  - id: fa1a7e52-3d02-435b-81b8-00da14dd66c1
    type: similar
  - id: 1dde5376-a648-492e-9e54-4241dd9b0c7f
    type: similar
  - id: 56b1dde8-b274-435f-a73a-fb75eb81262a
    type: similar
  - id: 0c2f8629-7129-4a8a-9897-7e0768f13ff2
    type: similar
  - id: 9f546b25-5f12-4c8d-8532-5893dcb1e4b8
    type: derived
status: test
description: This rule flags process executions where the parent process is Diskshadow.exe and the child process image matches a small set of commonly abused Windows binaries. Attackers may use Diskshadow.exe to launch another executable, potentially evading parent/child correlation or application allowlisting controls. It relies on Windows process creation telemetry with parent image and child image path/name matching.
references:
  - https://bohops.com/2018/03/26/diskshadow-the-return-of-vss-evasion-persistence-and-active-directory-database-extraction/
  - https://www.ired.team/offensive-security/credential-access-and-credential-dumping/ntds.dit-enumeration
  - https://medium.com/@cyberjyot/lolbin-execution-via-diskshadow-f6ff681a27a4
  - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/diskshadow
  - https://www.lifars.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/GriefRansomware_Whitepaper-2.pdf
  - https://www.zscaler.com/blogs/security-research/technical-analysis-crytox-ransomware
  - https://research.checkpoint.com/2022/evilplayout-attack-against-irans-state-broadcaster/
  - https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_diskshadow_child_process_susp.yml
author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems), Huntrule Team
date: 2023-09-15
tags:
  - attack.stealth
  - attack.t1218
logsource:
  category: process_creation
  product: windows
detection:
  selection:
    ParentImage|endswith: \diskshadow.exe
    Image|endswith:
      - \certutil.exe
      - \cscript.exe
      - \mshta.exe
      - \powershell.exe
      - \pwsh.exe
      - \regsvr32.exe
      - \rundll32.exe
      - \wscript.exe
  condition: selection
falsepositives:
  - False postitve can occur in cases where admin scripts levreage the "exec" flag to execute applications
level: medium
license: DRL-1.1

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