File Decoded From Base64/Hex Via Certutil.EXE

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About the rule

Rule Type

Standard

Rule Description

Detects the execution of certutil with either the "decode" or "decodehex" flags to decode base64 or hex encoded files. This can be abused by attackers to decode an encoded payload before execution

Severity

Trouble

Rule Requirement

Criteria

Action1: actionname = "Process started" AND (PROCESSNAME endswith "\certutil.exe" OR ORIGINALFILENAME = "CertUtil.exe") AND (COMMANDLINE contains "-decode ,/decode ,–decode ,—decode ,―decode " OR COMMANDLINE contains "-decodehex ,/decodehex ,–decodehex ,—decodehex ,―decodehex ") select Action1.HOSTNAME,Action1.MESSAGE,Action1.COMMANDLINE,Action1.FILE_NAME,Action1.PROCESSNAME,Action1.USERNAME,Action1.PARENTPROCESSNAME

Detection

Execution Mode

realtime

Log Sources

Windows

Author

Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), Jonhnathan Ribeiro, oscd.community