Detectors
Every Cortex detection rule the toolbox knows about — analytics alerts, BIOCs and correlation rules — in one filterable set.
1677 detectors match the current filters.
Download CSV| Type | Name | Severity | Module | Data source / event | ATT&CK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BIOC | Print spooler set to load new DLL on boot Malware can use this technique to load malicious code at startup that will persist on system reboot. This DLL must be located in C:\Windows\System32 and will be loaded by the print spooler service, spoolsv.exe, on boot. A port monitor can be set through the AddMonitor API. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Registry | Persistence |
| Analytics BIOC | Privileged certificate request via certificate template A privileged certificate was requested via certificate template. | Informational | Identity Analytics | Windows Event Collector, XDR Agent with eXtended Threat Hunting (XTH) | Privilege Escalation |
| Analytics BIOC | Privileged role used by Azure application An Azure application with high-level API permissions invoked a request to the Microsoft Graph API. | Low | Cortex Cloud | Azure Audit Log, Microsoft Graph Logs | Privilege Escalation |
| Analytics BIOC | Procdump executed from an atypical directory Procdump.exe is a SysInternals tool used to dump process memory; it can be used to dump lsass.exe memory to extract credentials. | Medium | Platform Analytics | XDR Agent | Defense Evasion, Credential Access |
| BIOC | Process attempts to kill a known security/AV tool This process has attempted to use taskkill.exe to terminate a known AV process or security analysis tool. Likely attempt to evade detection. | Medium | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Process calls ActiveX Object with a shell command This rule looks for ActiveX being used to run commands on a machine, seen in cases of evasive attacks. | Medium | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Execution |
| BIOC | Process changes the Windows logon text This registry key is used to display a legal notice when logging on to the computer. This is used by the DXXD ransomware to notify the user. | Medium | Platform Analytics | Registry | Impact |
| BIOC | Process requests the deletion of Windows Shadowcopies Ransomware and wipers may use the wmic.exe or vssadmin.exe utilities to delete or modify Shadowcopies (a Windows backup mechanism). | High | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Impact |
| BIOC | Process runs from the recycle bin Process running from the recycle bin. | Low | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Process runs with a double extension Look for executables with a common double extension. These are often used to disguise malware as some form of user content. | Medium | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Execution |
| BIOC | PsExec attempts to execute a command on a remote host PsExec is a SysInternals tool used to execute commands on remote hosts. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Network | Lateral Movement, Execution |
| BIOC | PsExec executed with plain-text credentials on the command line PsExec.exe is a Windows administrative tool, which may be used by adversaries to execute remote commands. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Execution |
| BIOC | PsExec execution EulaAccepted flag added to the Registry PsExec is commonly used by malware for lateral movement, seeing this value in the Registry means that the user ran PsExec and approved the EULA either automatically or manually. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Registry | Lateral Movement, Execution |
| BIOC | PsExec runs with System privileges PsExec.exe is a Windows administrative tool, it can be used to elevate privileges and run other processes with NT/System privilege level. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Privilege Escalation |
| Analytics BIOC | PsExec was executed with a suspicious command line PsExec.exe was executed. | Informational | Platform Analytics | XDR Agent | Execution, Privilege Escalation |
| BIOC | Psexesvc.exe executes a command from a remote host Psexesvc.exe executes to run a command received from a remote host via PsExec. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Execution |
| BIOC | Pubprn.vbs signed script proxy execution Pubprn.vbs is a standard script that is installed with Windows that can be abused to run malicious scripts. This behavior may bypass signature validation restrictions and application whitelisting solutions. | High | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| Analytics BIOC | Punycode characters detected in URL(s) Punycode character(s) detected within URL(s) in email content. | Informational | Email Security | Microsoft 365 Emails | Defense Evasion, Execution |
| Analytics BIOC | Python HTTP server started Python HTTP server started - possible exfiltration over HTTP. | Informational | Platform Analytics | XDR Agent | Exfiltration |
| BIOC | Python script connecting to network Python scripts may be used by attackers to connect to their command-and-control infrastructure. | Medium | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Execution |
| Analytics BIOC | Quarantined email released to recipients This message was previously quarantined by vendor and has now been released and delivered to the intended recipients. | Informational | Email Security | Microsoft 365 Emails | Initial Access |
| BIOC | Query startup programs using wmic.exe Attackers may use wmic.exe to query programs that run automatically when users log onto the computer system. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Discovery, Execution |
| Analytics | Random-Looking Domain Names The endpoint performed DNS lookups to an excessively large number of apparently random root domain names. This alert might be symptomatic of malware that is trying to connect to its command and control (C2) servers. The attacker's C2 server runs on one or more domains that can eventually be identified and blacklisted. To avoid this, malware will sometimes use Domain Generation Algorithms (DGA) that produce many unique, random-looking domain names every day. Because only a few of these domains are ever registered, the installed malware must blindly try to access each generated domain name in an effort to locate an active one, which may also trigger the Failed DNS alert. | Medium | Platform Analytics | Palo Alto Networks Firewall EAL Logs, XDR Agent | Command and Control |
| BIOC | Rar.exe execution with password protection parameters Rar.exe was executed with parameters indicating password protection of the output file. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Collection |
| Analytics | Rare access to known advertising domains The endpoint performed many connections to unpopular advertising domains. This could indicate the presence of adware on the endpoint. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Palo Alto Networks Firewall EAL Logs, XDR Agent | Command and Control, Persistence |
| Analytics BIOC | Rare AppID usage to a rare destination Rare AppID with port usage to rare destination. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Palo Alto Networks Firewall traffic Logs, XDR Agent, Third-Party Firewalls | Command and Control |
| Analytics BIOC | Rare binary connected to a rare cloud resource Rare binary connected to a rare cloud resource. | Low | Platform Analytics | XDR Agent | Command and Control |
| Analytics BIOC | Rare binary connected to a rare external host Rare binary connected to a rare external host. | Low | Platform Analytics | XDR Agent | Command and Control |
| Analytics BIOC | Rare communication over email ports to external email server by unsigned process These methods are used by malware and attackers to leak data and remain undetected. | Low | Platform Analytics | XDR Agent | Command and Control |
| Analytics BIOC | Rare connection to external IP address or host by an application using RMI-IIOP or LDAP protocol A process made a connection to an external IP address or host that is rarely connected to by the organization. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Palo Alto Networks Url Logs | Command and Control |
| Analytics BIOC | Rare DCOM RPC activity The endpoint performed abnormal DCOM RPC activity to a remote host. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Palo Alto Networks Firewall EAL Logs, XDR Agent with eXtended Threat Hunting (XTH) | Lateral Movement |
| Analytics BIOC | Rare DLP rule match by user A user triggered an O365 DLP rule match, which may indicate an attacker's attempt to access sensitive information. | Informational | Identity Threat Detection (ITDR), SaaS Threat Detection, Email Security | Office 365 Audit | Collection |
| Analytics BIOC | Rare file transfer over SMB protocol The endpoint performed an abnormal file transfer over SMB to a remote host. | Low | Platform Analytics | XDR Agent | Lateral Movement |
| Analytics | Rare LDAP enumeration Possible LDAP enumeration with a rare combination of queries. | Low | Platform Analytics | Palo Alto Networks Firewall EAL Logs | Discovery |
| Analytics BIOC | Rare LOLBIN Process Execution by User A user executed a living-off-the-land binary (LOLBIN) process that is unusual for this user. This may be indicative of a compromised account. | Informational | Identity Analytics | XDR Agent | Execution |
| Analytics BIOC | Rare machine account creation A user was observed creating a machine account for the first time. | Informational | Identity Analytics | Windows Event Collector, XDR Agent with eXtended Threat Hunting (XTH) | Persistence |
| Analytics BIOC | Rare MS-Update Server was detected The endpoint requested an MS-Update operation from a rare update server. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Palo Alto Networks Firewall EAL Logs | Initial Access |
| Analytics BIOC | Rare MS-Update traffic over HTTP The endpoint requested an MS-Update operation with abnormal HTTP traffic characteristics. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Palo Alto Networks Firewall EAL Logs, XDR Agent | Lateral Movement |
| Analytics BIOC | Rare NTLM Access By User To Host An unusual NTLM authentication attempt by a user to a host. This may indicate the use of stolen credentials or access tokens to access restricted hosts. | Informational | Identity Analytics | Palo Alto Networks Firewall traffic Logs, XDR Agent | Lateral Movement |
| Analytics BIOC | Rare NTLM Usage by User Rare authentication by user account to host via NTLM. The user has not authenticated with NTLM in the past 30 days. This may be indicative of downgrade attacks from Kerberos to NTLM. | Informational | Identity Analytics | Palo Alto Networks Firewall EAL Logs, XDR Agent | Lateral Movement |
| Analytics BIOC | Rare process accessed a Keychain file An unusual process accessed a Keychain file. This might indicate a credential-grabbing attempt. | Informational | Platform Analytics | XDR Agent with eXtended Threat Hunting (XTH) | Credential Access |
| Analytics BIOC | Rare process created an SSH session to an uncommon cloud resource A rare process created an SSH session to an uncommon cloud resource. | Low | Platform Analytics | Palo Alto Networks Firewall traffic Logs, XDR Agent, Third-Party Firewalls | Command and Control |
| Analytics BIOC | Rare process created an SSH session to an uncommon external host Rare process created an SSH session to an uncommon external host. | Low | Platform Analytics | Palo Alto Networks Firewall traffic Logs, XDR Agent, Third-Party Firewalls | Command and Control |
| Analytics BIOC | Rare process executed by an AppleScript An uncommon process has been executed by the AppleScript interpreter process. | Low | Platform Analytics | XDR Agent | Execution |
| Analytics BIOC | Rare process execution by user An unusual process was executed by a user. This may be indicative of a compromised account. | Informational | Identity Analytics | XDR Agent | Execution |
| Analytics BIOC | Rare process execution in organization An unusual process was executed in the organization. This may be indicative of a compromised account. | Informational | Identity Analytics | XDR Agent | Execution |
| Analytics BIOC | Rare process spawned by srvany.exe Unusual process spawned by srvany.exe, which allows applications to run as services with system privileges, this might be an indication of malicious local or remote code execution. | Informational | Platform Analytics | XDR Agent | Execution |
| Analytics BIOC | Rare process with VNC server capabilities started A rare process with VNC server capabilities was started. | Low | Platform Analytics | XDR Agent | Command and Control, Lateral Movement |
| Analytics BIOC | Rare RDP session to a remote host The endpoint performed a rare RDP session to a remote host. | Low | Platform Analytics | Palo Alto Networks Firewall traffic Logs, XDR Agent, Third-Party Firewalls | Lateral Movement |
| Analytics BIOC | Rare Remote Service (SVCCTL) RPC activity The endpoint performed abnormal RPC activity via Service Control Manager interface to a remote host. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Palo Alto Networks Firewall EAL Logs, XDR Agent with eXtended Threat Hunting (XTH) | Lateral Movement |
| Analytics BIOC | Rare scheduled task created A new rare scheduled task was created with a rare path and a rare command line. | Informational | Platform Analytics | XDR Agent with eXtended Threat Hunting (XTH) | Persistence |
| Analytics BIOC | Rare Scheduled Task RPC activity The endpoint performed abnormal Scheduled Task RPC activity to a remote host. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Palo Alto Networks Firewall EAL Logs, XDR Agent with eXtended Threat Hunting (XTH) | Lateral Movement, Persistence |
| Analytics BIOC | Rare Scheduled Task RPC activity from a rarely seen host The endpoint performed abnormal Scheduled Task RPC activity to a remote host. | Low | Platform Analytics | Palo Alto Networks Firewall EAL Logs, XDR Agent with eXtended Threat Hunting (XTH) | Lateral Movement, Persistence |
| Analytics BIOC | Rare security product signed executable executed in the network Attackers may attempt to install a security product with a known vulnerability to bypass security features. | Low | Platform Analytics | XDR Agent | Defense Evasion |
| Analytics BIOC | Rare service DLL was added to the registry A service was added as a dll, which will be executed by svchost.exe. This is a stealthy technique attackers use to persist their malware. | Low | Platform Analytics | XDR Agent with eXtended Threat Hunting (XTH) | Defense Evasion, Persistence |
| Analytics BIOC | Rare signature signed executable executed in the network Attackers may use signed executables by less known vendors to bypass security features. | Informational | Platform Analytics | XDR Agent | Defense Evasion |
| Analytics BIOC | Rare SMB session to a remote host The endpoint performed a rare SMB activity to a remote host. | Low | Platform Analytics | Palo Alto Networks Firewall traffic Logs, XDR Agent, Third-Party Firewalls | Lateral Movement |
| Analytics BIOC | Rare SMTP/S Session The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) and its SSL-secured variant SMTPS are used to send email. Attackers can use SMTP/S to exfiltrate data from your network. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Palo Alto Networks Firewall traffic Logs, XDR Agent, Third-Party Firewalls | Exfiltration |
| Analytics BIOC | Rare SSH Session Secure Shell (SSH) provides a secure means of remote administration. Attackers can use valid SSH credentials and keys to remotely connect to endpoints running the SSH service. | Low | Platform Analytics | XDR Agent | Lateral Movement |
| Analytics BIOC | Rare Unix process divided files by size A file was divided into sub-files by size limit by a rare process. | Informational | Platform Analytics | XDR Agent | Exfiltration |
| Analytics BIOC | Rare unsigned process execution by scheduled task Rare and unsigned process was executed by a scheduled task. | Low | Platform Analytics | XDR Agent | Persistence |
| Analytics BIOC | Rare Unsigned Process Spawned by Office Process Under Suspicious Directory Microsoft Office executed an unsigned process in a suspicious directory. This behavior is common with malicious macros. | Low | Platform Analytics | XDR Agent | Execution |
| Analytics BIOC | Rare Windows Remote Management (WinRM) HTTP Activity The endpoint performed unfamiliar WinRM HTTP activity to a remote host. | Low | Platform Analytics | Palo Alto Networks Firewall EAL Logs, XDR Agent | Lateral Movement |
| Analytics BIOC | Rare WinRM Session Windows Remote Management (WinRM) enables users to interact with remote systems in different ways, including running executables on the remote system. WinRM sessions can be established using WinRM/WinRS commands or programs such as PowerShell. Attackers can use WinRM to execute code and move laterally within a compromised network. | Informational | Platform Analytics | XDR Agent | Lateral Movement |
| Analytics BIOC | Rarely seen sender address in the organization An email was received from a sender that has not been observed in the organization in the last 30 days. | Informational | Email Security | Microsoft 365 Emails | Reconnaissance, Initial Access |
| Analytics BIOC | Rarely seen sender domain in the organization An email was received from a domain that has not been observed in the organization in the last 30 days. | Informational | Email Security | Microsoft 365 Emails | Reconnaissance, Initial Access |
| Analytics BIOC | RDP Connection to localhost An RDP connection to localhost can be used for privilege escalation by leveraging Windows accessibility features. | Medium | Platform Analytics | XDR Agent | Lateral Movement |
| Analytics BIOC | RDP connections enabled remotely via Registry An attacker may remotely enable RDP connections to a machine by setting the fDenyTSConnections Registry key to 0. | Low | Platform Analytics | XDR Agent with eXtended Threat Hunting (XTH) | Lateral Movement |
| BIOC | RDP connections enabled via Registry by unsigned process An attacker may enable RDP connections to a machine by setting the fDenyTSConnections Registry key to 0. | Low | Platform Analytics | Registry | Lateral Movement |
| BIOC | RDP connections enabled via Registry from a script host or rundll32.exe An attacker may enable RDP connections to a machine by setting the fDenyTSConnections Registry key to 0. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Registry | Lateral Movement |
| Analytics BIOC | RDP from an unmanaged endpoint in a typically managed subnet An RDP connection was established from an unmanaged endpoint in a typically managed subnet, indicating a possible lateral movement. | Low | Platform Analytics | Palo Alto Networks Firewall traffic Logs, XDR Agent | Lateral Movement |
| BIOC | Reading .ssh files Attackers may gather SSH keys (typically found in the ~/.ssh/ directory) to later use to authenticate with remote SSH servers. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Credential Access |
| Analytics BIOC | Reading bash command history file Attackers may access the bash history file to glean cleartext usernames and passwords that were entered on the command line. | Low | Platform Analytics | XDR Agent | Credential Access |
| BIOC | Reading the contents of /etc/mtab or /etc/fstab File read on /etc/mtab or /etc/fstab using the cat utility. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Discovery |
| Analytics BIOC | Recurring access to rare domain The endpoint is periodically connecting to an external domain (categorized as malware) that it and its peers rarely use. Access to this domain has occurred repeatedly over multiple days. This connection pattern is consistent with malware connecting to its command and control server for updates and operating instructions. | Low | Platform Analytics | Palo Alto Networks Firewall EAL Logs, Palo Alto Networks Firewall threat Logs, XDR Agent, Third-Party Firewalls | Command and Control |
| Analytics BIOC | Recurring access to rare IP The endpoint is periodically accessing an external fixed-IP address that its peers rarely use. Access to this external IP address has occurred repeatedly over many days. This connection pattern is consistent with malware connecting to its command and control server for updates and operating instructions. | Low | Platform Analytics | Palo Alto Networks Firewall traffic Logs, XDR Agent, Third-Party Firewalls | Command and Control |
| Analytics BIOC | Recurring rare domain access from an unsigned process An unsigned process is periodically connecting to an external domain that it and its peers rarely use. Access to this domain has occurred repeatedly over multiple days. This connection pattern is consistent with malware connecting to its command and control server for updates and operating instructions. | Low | Platform Analytics | XDR Agent | Command and Control |
| Analytics BIOC | Recurring rare domain access to dynamic DNS domain The endpoint is periodically connecting to an external domain that it and its peers rarely use. Access to this domain has occurred repeatedly over multiple days. This connection pattern is consistent with malware connecting to its command and control server for updates and operating instructions. | Low | Platform Analytics | Palo Alto Networks Firewall traffic Logs, XDR Agent, Third-Party Firewalls | Command and Control |
| Analytics BIOC | Registration of Uncommon .NET Services and/or Assemblies Regasm.exe and regsvcs.exe are used to register .NET COM assemblies, which are typically located in specific paths, attackers might leverage that to execute code within a Microsoft signed binary. | Informational | Platform Analytics | XDR Agent | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Registry credentials extraction Attackers may extract credentials from the Registry using system commands. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Credential Access |
| BIOC | Regsvr32 may have run code from an untrusted source Regsvr32 may be used to run arbitrary code by passing the '/i' parameter. The code may also be hosted on a remote host. | High | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| Analytics | Remote account enumeration Multiple non-existing accounts failed to remotely log in to a host in a short period of time. This may indicate an attacker is trying to remotely enumerate accounts. | Informational | Identity Analytics | XDR Agent | Discovery, Credential Access |
| Analytics BIOC | Remote code execution into Kubernetes Pod A container administration service was used to execute commands within a Kubernetes Pod. | Informational | Platform Analytics | XDR Agent | Execution |
| BIOC | Remote command executed from a Linux host This tool enables commands to be remotely executed on a Microsoft Windows computer from a Linux computer. This capability is leveraged by attackers to run code remotely, similarly to PsExec. | Low | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Execution |
| Analytics BIOC | Remote command execution via wmic.exe Remote command execution using the Windows Management Instrumentation command-line tool. | Low | Platform Analytics | XDR Agent | Execution |
| Analytics BIOC | Remote DCOM command execution A remotely triggered DCOM initiated a command execution by a host that rarely executes processes using DCOM to other remote hosts. | Low | Platform Analytics | XDR Agent | Lateral Movement |
| BIOC | Remote file copy Remote copy operation of a file using rsync or scp or sftp. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Lateral Movement |
| Analytics BIOC | Remote PsExec-like command execution A remotely triggered service initiated a command execution in a PsExec-like manner by a host that rarely triggers services to other remote hosts. | Informational | Platform Analytics | XDR Agent | Lateral Movement, Execution |
| BIOC | Remote RDP session enumeration via query.exe Attackers may use the built-in query.exe tool to enumerate remote sessions, using the session flag. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Lateral Movement |
| BIOC | Remote RDP session enumeration via qwinsta.exe Attackers may use the built-in qwinsta.exe tool to enumerate remote sessions. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Lateral Movement |
| Analytics BIOC | Remote service command execution from an uncommon source A remotely triggered service initiated a command execution by a host that rarely triggers services to other remote hosts. | High | Platform Analytics | XDR Agent | Lateral Movement, Execution |
| Analytics BIOC | Remote service start from an uncommon source A remotely triggered service initiated by a host that rarely triggers services to other remote hosts. | Low | Platform Analytics | XDR Agent | Lateral Movement, Execution |
| BIOC | Remote system discovery Remote system discovery using a system utility. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Discovery |
| Analytics BIOC | Remote usage of an App engine Service Account token A GCP Service Account token, which is attached to an app engine, was used externally of the cloud environment. | Informational | Cortex Cloud | Gcp Audit Log | Credential Access |
| Analytics BIOC | Remote usage of an AWS service token An AWS service token was used externally of the cloud environment. | Low | Cortex Cloud | AWS Audit Log | Credential Access, Lateral Movement, Initial Access |
| Analytics BIOC | Remote usage of an Azure Managed Identity token An Azure Managed Identity token, which is attached to a compute service, was used externally of the cloud environment. | Low | Cortex Cloud | Azure Audit Log | Credential Access |
| Analytics BIOC | Remote usage of an Azure Service Principal token An Azure Service Principal token was used externally of the cloud environment. | Informational | Cortex Cloud | Azure Audit Log | Credential Access |
| Analytics BIOC | Remote usage of AWS Lambda's role An AWS Lambda's role was used externally of the cloud environment. | Informational | Cortex Cloud | AWS Audit Log | Credential Access, Initial Access |
| Analytics BIOC | Remote usage of VM Service Account token A GCP Service Account token, which is attached to a VM, was used externally of the cloud environment. | Informational | Cortex Cloud | Gcp Audit Log | Credential Access |
| Analytics BIOC | Remote WMI process execution A host that rarely initiates WMI to other remote hosts triggered a remote process execution by using WMI RPC. | Medium | Platform Analytics | XDR Agent | Lateral Movement |