sigmamediumHunting

Visual Studio Code Tunnel Execution

Detects Visual Studio Code tunnel execution. Attackers can abuse this functionality to establish a C2 channel

MITRE ATT&CK

command-and-control

Detection Query

selection_only_tunnel:
  OriginalFileName: null
  CommandLine|endswith: .exe tunnel
selection_tunnel_args:
  CommandLine|contains|all:
    - .exe tunnel
    - --accept-server-license-terms
selection_parent_tunnel:
  ParentCommandLine|endswith: " tunnel"
  Image|endswith: \cmd.exe
  CommandLine|contains|all:
    - "/d /c "
    - \servers\Stable-
    - code-server.cmd
condition: 1 of selection_*

Author

Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems), citron_ninja

Created

2023-10-25

Data Sources

windowsProcess Creation Events

Platforms

windows

References

Tags

attack.command-and-controlattack.t1071.001attack.t1219

Raw Content

title: Visual Studio Code Tunnel Execution
id: 90d6bd71-dffb-4989-8d86-a827fedd6624
status: test
description: Detects Visual Studio Code tunnel execution. Attackers can abuse this functionality to establish a C2 channel
references:
    - https://ipfyx.fr/post/visual-studio-code-tunnel/
    - https://badoption.eu/blog/2023/01/31/code_c2.html
    - https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/remote/tunnels
author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems), citron_ninja
date: 2023-10-25
modified: 2025-10-29
tags:
    - attack.command-and-control
    - attack.t1071.001
    - attack.t1219
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection_only_tunnel:
        OriginalFileName: null
        CommandLine|endswith: '.exe tunnel'
    selection_tunnel_args:
        CommandLine|contains|all:
            - '.exe tunnel'
            - '--accept-server-license-terms'
    selection_parent_tunnel:
        ParentCommandLine|endswith: ' tunnel'
        Image|endswith: '\cmd.exe'
        CommandLine|contains|all:
            - '/d /c '
            - '\servers\Stable-'
            - 'code-server.cmd'
    condition: 1 of selection_*
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate use of Visual Studio Code tunnel
level: medium