huntrule

Windows te.exe Execution of Test Components (TAEF) via Process Creation

Alerts on process activity involving te.exe, which may indicate TAEF-based execution of malicious test components.

FreeReviewedSigma · Low · v1
Product
windows
Category
process_creation
Author
Agro (@agro_sev) oscd.community (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2020-10-13
Updated
2026-07-30
AnalysisDetection

ATT&CK techniques

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 events where te.exe is launched, including cases where it appears as the original image name or as the parent process of another spawned process. Attackers can abuse the Windows Test Authoring and Execution Framework (TAEF) to run automation payloads through test components, making process lineage around te.exe important for identifying misuse. Telemetry relies on Windows process creation fields including Image, ParentImage, and OriginalFileName.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1218 — drag to rearrange
Suspicious .NET LOLBin Execution via CasPol or RegAsm
Possible DarkGate DLL Sideloading via iTunesHelper Loading CoreFoundation
Suspicious extrac32 CAB Extraction Abuse
Malicious cdb.exe Masquerading as fontdrvhost in ProgramData (via process_creation)
Malicious certutil Decodehex Payload Reconstruction by DarkGate
Malicious MSIX Package Execution via App Installer ms-appinstaller Protocol (via process_creation)
Malicious ViPNet Backdoor Loader via lumpdiag.exe Path Substitution
Suspicious BitLockerToGo Execution from Unusual Parent
Suspicious Proxy Execution via pcalua
Windows te.exe Execution of Test Components (TAEF) via Process Creation
Pivot detection · T1218 · 9 related

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