Suspicious WAV file in Appdata Folder

name: Suspicious WAV file in Appdata Folder
id: 5be109e6-1ac5-11ec-b421-acde48001122
version: 10
date: '2026-03-10'
author: Teoderick Contreras, Splunk
status: production
type: TTP
description: The following analytic detects the creation of .wav files in the AppData folder, a behavior associated with Remcos RAT malware, which stores audio recordings in this location for data exfiltration. The detection leverages endpoint process and filesystem data to identify .wav file creation within the AppData\Roaming directory. This activity is significant as it indicates potential unauthorized data collection and exfiltration by malware. If confirmed malicious, this could lead to sensitive information being sent to an attacker's command and control server, compromising the affected system's confidentiality.
data_source:
    - Sysmon EventID 1 AND Sysmon EventID 11
    - Windows Event Log Security 4688 AND Sysmon EventID 11
search: '| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count FROM datamodel=Endpoint.Processes where Processes.process_name=*.exe Processes.process_path="*\\appdata\\Roaming\\*" by _time span=1h Processes.action Processes.dest Processes.original_file_name Processes.parent_process Processes.parent_process_exec Processes.parent_process_guid Processes.parent_process_id Processes.parent_process_name Processes.parent_process_path Processes.process Processes.process_exec Processes.process_guid Processes.process_hash Processes.process_id Processes.process_integrity_level Processes.process_name Processes.process_path Processes.user Processes.user_id Processes.vendor_product | `drop_dm_object_name(Processes)` |rename process_guid as proc_guid | join proc_guid, _time [ | tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime FROM datamodel=Endpoint.Filesystem where Filesystem.file_name IN ("*.wav") Filesystem.file_path = "*\\appdata\\Roaming\\*" by _time span=1h Filesystem.dest Filesystem.file_create_time Filesystem.file_name Filesystem.file_path Filesystem.process_guid | `drop_dm_object_name(Filesystem)` |rename process_guid as proc_guid | fields file_name file_path process_name process_path process dest file_create_time _time proc_guid] | `suspicious_wav_file_in_appdata_folder_filter`'
how_to_implement: To successfully implement this search, you need to be ingesting logs with the process name, parent process, file_name, file_path and command-line executions from your endpoints. If you are using Sysmon, you must have at least version 6.0.4 of the Sysmon TA.
known_false_positives: No false positives have been identified at this time.
references:
    - https://success.trendmicro.com/dcx/s/solution/1123281-remcos-malware-information?language=en_US
    - https://blog.malwarebytes.com/threat-intelligence/2021/07/remcos-rat-delivered-via-visual-basic/
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 ("$dest$") starthoursago=168  | 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: $info_min_time$
      latest_offset: $info_max_time$
rba:
    message: process $process_name$ creating image file $file_path$ on $dest$
    risk_objects:
        - field: dest
          type: system
          score: 50
    threat_objects:
        - field: process_name
          type: process_name
tags:
    analytic_story:
        - Remcos
    asset_type: Endpoint
    mitre_attack_id:
        - T1113
    product:
        - Splunk Enterprise
        - Splunk Enterprise Security
        - Splunk Cloud
    security_domain: endpoint
tests:
    - name: True Positive Test
      attack_data:
        - data: https://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/malware/remcos/remcos_agent/sysmon_wav.log
          source: XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational
          sourcetype: XmlWinEventLog