huntrule

Windows Sysmon Application Popup Crash (Event ID 26)

Flags Application Popup events reporting sysmon64.exe/sysmon.exe “Application Error” (Event ID 26).

FreeReviewedSigma · High · v2
Product
windows
Service
system
Author
Tim Shelton (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2022-04-26
Updated
2026-07-31
AnalysisDetection

ATT&CK techniques

  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 matches Windows System service events where the “Application Popup” provider reports an application error for sysmon64.exe or sysmon.exe with Event ID 26. An attacker or user impact scenario may attempt to disrupt monitoring by causing Sysmon to crash, reducing visibility. The detection relies on System log telemetry containing the Application Popup provider name, event ID, and the specific sysmon application error captions.

Reporting behind it

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Malicious Windows Defender Tampering via Set-MpPreference and Add-MpPreference (via ps_script)
Windows Sysmon Application Popup Crash (Event ID 26)
Pivot detection · T1685 · 9 related

Changelog

v2
  1. v2
    Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
  2. 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.