Windows Shell/Scripting Tool File Write to Suspicious Directories
Alert on file writes by common Windows shells/scripting tools to C:\PerfLogs, C:\Users\Public, or C:\Windows\Temp.
- Product
- windows
- Category
- file_event
- Author
- Florian Roth (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
- Published
- 2021-11-20
- Updated
- 2026-07-31
ATT&CK techniques
ExecutionRecon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact
What it detects
This rule flags file events where common Windows shells and scripting tools (bash, cmd, cscript, powershell, pwsh, sh, wscript, msbuild) or related script execution utilities (certutil, forfiles, mshta, schtasks, scriptrunner, wmic) write to targeted “suspicious” locations. Such activity can indicate staging, payload preparation, or other persistence-related file drops using legitimate interpreters and execution binaries. It relies on Windows file event telemetry that includes the process image path and the target filename written to PerfLogs, Users\Public, or Windows\Temp.
Reporting behind it
Changelog
v2- v2Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
- v1No 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.
title: Windows Shell/Scripting Tool File Write to Suspicious Directories
id: e101da0b-8587-454b-b54a-bc1add48d366
status: test
description: This rule flags file events where common Windows shells and scripting tools (bash, cmd, cscript, powershell, pwsh, sh, wscript, msbuild) or related script execution utilities (certutil, forfiles, mshta, schtasks, scriptrunner, wmic) write to targeted “suspicious” locations. Such activity can indicate staging, payload preparation, or other persistence-related file drops using legitimate interpreters and execution binaries. It relies on Windows file event telemetry that includes the process image path and the target filename written to PerfLogs, Users\Public, or Windows\Temp.
references:
- Internal Research
- https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/windows/file/file_event/file_event_win_shell_write_susp_directory.yml
author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), Huntrule Team
date: 2021-11-20
modified: 2023-03-29
tags:
- attack.execution
- attack.t1059
logsource:
category: file_event
product: windows
detection:
selection_1:
Image|endswith:
- \bash.exe
- \cmd.exe
- \cscript.exe
- \msbuild.exe
- \powershell.exe
- \pwsh.exe
- \sh.exe
- \wscript.exe
TargetFilename|startswith:
- C:\PerfLogs\
- C:\Users\Public\
selection_2:
Image|endswith:
- \certutil.exe
- \forfiles.exe
- \mshta.exe
- \schtasks.exe
- \scriptrunner.exe
- \wmic.exe
TargetFilename|contains:
- C:\PerfLogs\
- C:\Users\Public\
- C:\Windows\Temp\
condition: 1 of selection_*
falsepositives:
- Unknown
level: high
license: DRL-1.1
related:
- id: 1277f594-a7d1-4f28-a2d3-73af5cbeab43
type: derived