Process Terminated Via Taskkill

SIGMA detection rule by frack113, MalGamy (Nextron Systems), Nasreddine Bencherchali · GPL-2.0

Detects execution of "taskkill.exe" in order to stop a service or a process. Look for suspicious parents executing this command in order to hunt for potential malicious activity. Attackers might leverage this in order to conduct data destruction or data encrypted for impact on the data stores of services like Exchange and SQL Server.

title: Process Terminated Via Taskkill
id: 2f97f9ce-7a7d-959a-856a-f32ca7058c3e
related:
    - id: 86085955-ea48-42a2-9dd3-85d4c36b167d
      type: derived
status: test
description: |
    Detects execution of "taskkill.exe" in order to stop a service or a process. Look for suspicious parents executing this command in order to hunt for potential malicious activity.
    Attackers might leverage this in order to conduct data destruction or data encrypted for impact on the data stores of services like Exchange and SQL Server.
references:
    - https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/f339e7da7d05f6057fdfcdd3742bfcf365fee2a9/atomics/T1489/T1489.md#atomic-test-3---windows---stop-service-by-killing-process
    - https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/snipbot-romcom-malware-variant/
author: frack113, MalGamy (Nextron Systems), Nasreddine Bencherchali
date: 2021-12-26
modified: 2024-10-06
tags:
    - attack.impact
    - attack.t1489
    - detection.threat-hunting
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    process_creation:
        EventID: 4688
        Channel: Security
    selection_img:
        - NewProcessName|endswith: \taskkill.exe
        - OriginalFileName: taskkill.exe
    selection_cli_force:
        - CommandLine|contains|windash: ' /f '
        - CommandLine|endswith|windash: ' /f'
    selection_cli_filter_process:
        CommandLine|contains|windash:
            - ' /im '
            - ' /pid '
    filter_main_installers:
        ParentProcessName|contains:
            - \AppData\Local\Temp\
            - :\Windows\Temp
        ParentProcessName|endswith: .tmp
    condition: process_creation and (all of selection_* and not 1 of filter_main_*)
falsepositives:
    - Expected FP with some processes using this techniques to terminate one of their processes during installations and updates
level: low
ruletype: Sigma

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

1025d5d7-56ab-452f-969f-bfa411cfc4c9

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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.

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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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