Suspicious Velociraptor Child Process

SIGMA detection rule by Swachchhanda Shrawan Poudel (Nextron Systems) · NOASSERTION

Detects the suspicious use of the Velociraptor DFIR tool to execute other tools or download additional payloads, as seen in a campaign where it was abused for remote access and to stage further attacks.

title: Suspicious Velociraptor Child Process
id: 4bc90587-e6ca-4b41-be0b-ed4d04e4ed0c
status: experimental
description: Detects the suspicious use of the Velociraptor DFIR tool to execute other tools or download additional payloads, as seen in a campaign where it was abused for remote access and to stage further attacks.
references:
    - https://news.sophos.com/en-us/2025/08/26/velociraptor-incident-response-tool-abused-for-remote-access/
author: Swachchhanda Shrawan Poudel (Nextron Systems)
date: 2025-08-29
tags:
    - attack.command-and-control
    - attack.persistence
    - attack.t1219
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection_parent:
        ParentImage|endswith: '\Velociraptor.exe'
    selection_child_vscode_tunnel:
        CommandLine|contains|all:
            - 'code.exe'
            - 'tunnel'
            - '--accept-server-license-terms'
    selection_child_msiexec:
        CommandLine|contains|all:
            - 'msiexec'
            - '/i'
            - 'http'
    selection_child_powershell:
        Image|endswith:
            - '\powershell.exe'
            - '\powershell_ise.exe'
            - '\pwsh.exe'
        CommandLine|contains:
            - 'Invoke-WebRequest '
            - 'IWR '
            - '.DownloadFile'
            - '.DownloadString'
    # Add more child process patterns as needed
    condition: selection_parent and 1 of selection_child_*
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate administrators or incident responders might use Velociraptor to execute scripts or tools. However, the combination of Velociraptor spawning these specific processes with these command lines is suspicious. Tuning may be required to exclude known administrative actions or specific scripts.
level: high

[[ currentRule.title && currentRule.title.length > 60 ? currentRule.title.slice(0, 60) + '…' : currentRule.title ]]

b903d7dd-86a5-42f1-bd81-df1f625e5c23

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Executable code, not a declarative rule

This submission is arbitrary [[ currentRule.format ? currentRule.format.toUpperCase() : '' ]] code, not a declarative detection rule — review it as you would any script before running it, and note that it cannot be safely aggregated or auto-executed alongside YARA/Sigma/Suricata/CRS rules.

Rejected pattern present

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Format & documentation suggestions

Not a security issue — this rule is valid and was accepted as-is. These are optional fields/conventions its own format recommends, mainly affecting its quality score and how well it documents itself for other reviewers.

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[[ currentRule.title && currentRule.title.length > 60 ? currentRule.title.slice(0, 60) + '…' : currentRule.title ]]

[[ currentRule.title ]]

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