[[ fm.text ]] Click here

Age of Empires II DE Suspicious Child Process - STRICT

SIGMA detection rule by Adama ASSIONGBON (SOC & CTI Consultant), https://linkedin.com/in/adama-assiongbon-9029893a · Unknown

Detects Age of Empires II Definitive Edition spawning a shell, script host, or download-capable utility, indicating high-confidence post-exploitation behavior potentially associated with CVE-2026-50663. SOC L1 should verify the source, affected host, user, process or request fields, timing, and related activity. Détecte Age of Empires II Definitive Edition lançant un interpréteur, un moteur de script ou un utilitaire de téléchargement, comportement post-exploitation haute confiance potentiellement associé à CVE-2026-50663. Le SOC L1 doit vérifier la source, l’hôte affecté, l’utilisateur, les champs de processus ou de requête, la chronologie et les activités associées.

title: Age of Empires II DE Suspicious Child Process - STRICT
id: 68e584d9-d927-4a54-b9d5-34697f6daf98
related:
  - id: 8ec90af7-440c-48c5-9807-85291d355b6d
    type: similar
status: experimental
description: |
  Detects Age of Empires II Definitive Edition spawning a shell, script host, or download-capable utility, indicating high-confidence post-exploitation behavior potentially associated with CVE-2026-50663. SOC L1 should verify the source, affected host, user, process or request fields, timing, and related activity.
  Détecte Age of Empires II Definitive Edition lançant un interpréteur, un moteur de script ou un utilitaire de téléchargement, comportement post-exploitation haute confiance potentiellement associé à CVE-2026-50663. Le SOC L1 doit vérifier la source, l’hôte affecté, l’utilisateur, les champs de processus ou de requête, la chronologie et les activités associées.
references:
  - https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-50663
  - https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-50663
author: Adama ASSIONGBON (SOC & CTI Consultant), https://linkedin.com/in/adama-assiongbon-9029893a
date: 2026-07-16
logsource:
  product: windows
  category: process_creation
detection:
  selection_parent:
    ParentImage|endswith: '\AoE2DE_s.exe'
  selection_child:
    Image|endswith:
      - '\cmd.exe'
      - '\powershell.exe'
      - '\pwsh.exe'
      - '\wscript.exe'
      - '\cscript.exe'
      - '\mshta.exe'
      - '\rundll32.exe'
      - '\regsvr32.exe'
      - '\certutil.exe'
      - '\bitsadmin.exe'
      - '\curl.exe'
      - '\schtasks.exe'
      - '\msiexec.exe'
      - '\installutil.exe'
      - '\regasm.exe'
      - '\regsvcs.exe'
      - '\msbuild.exe'
      - '\wmic.exe'
      - '\forfiles.exe'
  condition: selection_parent and selection_child
fields:
  - UtcTime
  - EventID
  - Computer
  - User
  - Image
  - CommandLine
  - ParentImage
  - ParentCommandLine
  - CurrentDirectory
  - IntegrityLevel
  - ProcessId
  - ParentProcessId
falsepositives:
  - Authorized game debugging or compatibility testing that deliberately launches a command interpreter
  - Third-party game modifications with unsafe helper-process behavior; validate provenance before exclusion
level: high
tags:
  - attack.execution
  - attack.t1059
  - attack.t1204.002
  - cve.2026-50663

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

7626feae-66af-41d5-9fd4-b35862185194

Propose edits, view related rules, and engage with the community through comments.

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

[[ reason ]]

What does this mean?

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.

[[ reason ]]

What do these messages mean?

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

[[ currentRule.title ]]

Community Discussion