Windows RMM Named Pipe

SPLUNK detection rule by Raven Tait, Splunk · Apache-2.0

The following analytic detects the creation or connection to known suspicious named pipes, which is a technique often used by offensive tools. It leverages Sysmon EventCodes 17 and 18 to identify known default pipe names used by RMM tools. If confirmed malicious, this could allow an attacker to abuse these to potentially gain persistence, command and control, or further system compromise.

name: Windows RMM Named Pipe
id: c07c7138-edf5-4a16-8b24-3842599235bf
version: 5
creation_date: '2025-12-08'
modification_date: '2026-05-13'
author: Raven Tait, Splunk
status: production
type: Anomaly
description: |
    The following analytic detects the creation or connection to known suspicious named pipes, which is a technique often used by offensive tools.
    It leverages Sysmon EventCodes 17 and 18 to identify  known default pipe names used by RMM tools.
    If confirmed malicious,  this could allow an attacker to abuse these to potentially gain persistence, command and control, or further system compromise.
data_source:
    - Sysmon EventID 17
    - Sysmon EventID 18
search: |
    `sysmon`
    (EventCode=17 OR EventCode=18)
    NOT process_path IN (
      "*:\\Program Files \(x86\)\\Adobe*",
      "*:\\Program Files \(x86\)\\Google*",
      "*:\\Program Files \(x86\)\\Microsoft*",
      "*:\\Program Files\\Adobe*",
      "*:\\Program Files\\Google*",
      "*:\\Program Files\\Microsoft*",
      "*:\\Windows\\system32\\SearchIndexer.exe",
      "*:\\Windows\\System32\\svchost.exe",
      "*:\\Windows\\SystemApps\\Microsoft*",
      "*\\Amazon\\SSM\\Instance*",
      "*\\AppData\\Local\\Google*",
      "*\\AppData\\Local\\Kingsoft\\*",
      "*\\AppData\\Local\\Microsoft*",
      "System"
    )

    | stats  min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime
    count by dest dvc process_exec process_guid process_id process_path signature signature_id
    vendor_product pipe_name user_id Image process_name

    | lookup suspicious_rmm_named_pipes suspicious_pipe_name AS pipe_name OUTPUT tool, description
    | where isnotnull(tool)
    | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
    | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
    | `windows_rmm_named_pipe_filter`
how_to_implement: |
    To successfully implement this search, you need to be ingesting
    logs with the process name and pipename from your endpoints. If you are using Sysmon,
    you must have at least version 6.0.4 of the Sysmon TA.
known_false_positives: |
    Some false positives may occur from RMM software used in your environment. Apply filters
    based on known legitimate RMM software in your environment to reduce false positives.
references:
    - https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1218/009/
    - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/ipc/named-pipes
drilldown_searches:
    - name: View the detection results for - "$dest$"
      search: '%original_detection_search% | search  dest = "$dest$"'
      earliest_offset: $info_min_time$
      latest_offset: $info_max_time$
    - name: View risk events for the last 7 days for - "$dest$"
      search: '| from datamodel Risk.All_Risk | search normalized_risk_object IN ("$dest$") | stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime values(search_name) as "Search Name" values(risk_message) as "Risk Message" values(analyticstories) as "Analytic Stories" values(annotations._all) as "Annotations" values(annotations.mitre_attack.mitre_tactic) as "ATT&CK Tactics" by normalized_risk_object | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`'
      earliest_offset: 7d
      latest_offset: "0"
intermediate_findings:
    entities:
        - field: dest
          type: system
          score: 20
          message: An instance of $process_name$ located in $process_path$ was identified on endpoint $dest$ accessing known RMM named pipe $pipe_name$.
threat_objects:
    - field: process_name
      type: process_name
analytic_story:
    - Cactus Ransomware
    - CISA AA24-241A
    - Command And Control
    - GhostRedirector IIS Module and Rungan Backdoor
    - Gozi Malware
    - Insider Threat
    - Interlock Ransomware
    - Ransomware
    - Remote Monitoring and Management Software
    - Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters
    - Scattered Spider
    - Seashell Blizzard
asset_type: Endpoint
mitre_attack_id:
    - T1559
    - T1021.002
    - T1055
product:
    - Splunk Enterprise
    - Splunk Enterprise Security
    - Splunk Cloud
category: endpoint
security_domain: endpoint
tests:
    - name: True Positive Test
      attack_data:
        - data: https://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/attack_techniques/T1055/named_pipes/windows-sysmon.log
          source: XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational
          sourcetype: XmlWinEventLog
      test_type: unit

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