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Windows Process Creation: UAC Bypass via winsat.exe Path Parsing

Alerts on elevated processes spawned by Temp-path winsat.exe with system32 winsat command-line content.

FreeReviewedSigma · High · v1
Product
windows
Category
process_creation
Author
Christian Burkard (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2021-08-30
Updated
2026-07-30
AnalysisDetection

ATT&CK techniques

Priv Esc → 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 process creation where the parent process is winsat.exe launched from a Temp-based system32 path and the parent command line contains a Windows system32 winsat.exe reference. It also requires the resulting process to run with elevated integrity levels (High or System-related SIDs), which is consistent with privilege escalation attempts. Detection relies on Windows process creation telemetry including integrity level, parent image path, and parent command line content.

Reporting behind it

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Suspicious dllhost.exe Spawned with CLSID and Anomalous Parent (via process_creation)
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Malicious User Account Control Bypass via Auto-Elevating Binary Hijack (via process_creation)
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Windows Process Creation: UAC Bypass via winsat.exe Path Parsing
Pivot detection · T1548.002 · 9 related

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