Windows Renamed ftp.exe Execution via OriginalFileName PE Metadata

Flags Windows executions where PE OriginalFileName is ftp.exe but the image path is not named ftp.exe.

FreeReviewedSigma · Medium · v1
Product
windows
Category
process_creation
Author
Victor Sergeev, oscd.community (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2020-10-09
Updated
2026-07-30

ATT&CK techniques

Execution → Defense Evasion
  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Initial Access

  4. Persistence

  5. Priv Esc

  6. Cred Access

  7. Discovery

  8. Lateral Movement

  9. Collection

  10. C2

  11. Exfiltration

  12. Impact

What it detects

This rule identifies process creation where the PE metadata OriginalFileName is set to "ftp.exe" while the running image path does not end with "\ftp.exe". Renaming a copied or staged ftp.exe can help attackers blend into expected tooling and evade simple filename-based detections. Telemetry relies on Windows process creation events that include the executable path and PE metadata fields such as OriginalFileName.

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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.