Windows PUA Named Pipe

name: Windows PUA Named Pipe
id: 95b11d20-e2c6-46a5-b526-8629f5f0860a
version: 3
date: '2026-03-10'
author: Raven Tait, Splunk
status: production
type: Anomaly
description: |
    The following analytic detects the creation or connection to named pipes  used by potentially unwanted applications (PUAs) like VPNs or utilities like PsExec.
    It leverages Sysmon EventCodes 17 and 18.
    If confirmed malicious, this could allow an attacker to abuse these to potentially gain persistence, command and control, or further system compromise.
data_source:
    - Sysmon EventID 17
    - Sysmon EventID 18
search: |
    `sysmon`
    (EventCode=17 OR EventCode=18)
    NOT process_path IN (
      "*:\\Program Files \(x86\)\\Adobe*",
      "*:\\Program Files \(x86\)\\Google*",
      "*:\\Program Files \(x86\)\\Microsoft*",
      "*:\\Program Files\\Adobe*",
      "*:\\Program Files\\dotnet\\dotnet.exe",
      "*:\\Program Files\\Google*",
      "*:\\Program Files\\Microsoft*",
      "*:\\Windows\\system32\\SearchIndexer.exe",
      "*:\\Windows\\System32\\svchost.exe",
      "*:\\Windows\\SystemApps\\Microsoft*",
      "*\\Amazon\\SSM\\Instance*",
      "*\\AppData\\Local\\Google*",
      "*\\AppData\\Local\\Kingsoft\\*",
      "*\\AppData\\Local\\Microsoft*",
      "System"
    )

    | stats  min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime
    count by dest dvc process_exec process_guid process_id process_path signature signature_id
    vendor_product pipe_name user_id Image process_name

    | lookup pua_named_pipes pua_pipe_name AS pipe_name OUTPUT tool, description
    | where isnotnull(tool)
    | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
    | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
    | `windows_pua_named_pipe_filter`
how_to_implement: |
    To successfully implement this search, you need to be ingesting
    logs with the process name and pipename from your endpoints. If you are using Sysmon,
    you must have at least version 6.0.4 of the Sysmon TA.
known_false_positives: |
    PUAs can be used in a legitimate manner. Therefore, some of the named pipes identified and added may cause false positives.
    Filter by process name or pipe name to reduce false positives.
references:
    - https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1218/009/
    - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/ipc/named-pipes
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: An instance of $process_name$ located in $process_path$ was identified on endpoint $dest$ accessing known named pipe $pipe_name$ from a potentially unwanted application in your environment.
    risk_objects:
        - field: dest
          type: system
          score: 20
    threat_objects:
        - field: process_name
          type: process_name
tags:
    analytic_story:
        - Active Directory Lateral Movement
        - BlackByte Ransomware
        - Cactus Ransomware
        - CISA AA22-320A
        - DarkGate Malware
        - DarkSide Ransomware
        - DHS Report TA18-074A
        - HAFNIUM Group
        - IcedID
        - Medusa Ransomware
        - Rhysida Ransomware
        - SamSam Ransomware
        - Sandworm Tools
        - Seashell Blizzard
        - VanHelsing Ransomware
        - Volt Typhoon
    asset_type: Endpoint
    mitre_attack_id:
        - T1559
        - T1021.002
        - T1055
    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/attack_techniques/T1055/named_pipes/windows-sysmon.log
          source: XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational
          sourcetype: XmlWinEventLog