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Potentially Suspicious Malware Callback Communication

sigma HIGH SigmaHQ
T1571
imNetworkSession
This rule was pulled from an open-source repository and enriched with AI. Validate in a test environment before deploying to production.
View original rule at SigmaHQ →
Retrieved: 2026-05-06T11:00:00Z · Confidence: medium

Hunt Hypothesis

Detects programs that connect to known malware callback ports based on statistical analysis from two different sandbox system databases

Detection Rule

Sigma (Original)

title: Potentially Suspicious Malware Callback Communication
id: 4b89abaa-99fe-4232-afdd-8f9aa4d20382
related:
    - id: 6d8c3d20-a5e1-494f-8412-4571d716cf5c
      type: similar
status: test
description: |
    Detects programs that connect to known malware callback ports based on statistical analysis from two different sandbox system databases
references:
    - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17pSTDNpa0sf6pHeRhusvWG6rThciE8CsXTSlDUAZDyo
author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)
date: 2017-03-19
modified: 2024-03-12
tags:
    - attack.persistence
    - attack.command-and-control
    - attack.t1571
logsource:
    category: network_connection
    product: windows
detection:
    selection:
        Initiated: 'true'
        DestinationPort:
            - 100
            - 198
            - 200
            - 243
            - 473
            - 666
            - 700
            - 743
            - 777
            - 1443
            - 1515
            - 1777
            - 1817
            - 1904
            - 1960
            - 2443
            - 2448
            - 3360
            - 3675
            - 3939
            - 4040
            - 4433
            - 4438
            - 4443
            - 4444
            - 4455
            - 5445
            - 5552
            - 5649
            - 6625
            - 7210
            - 7777
            - 8143
            - 8843
            - 9631
            - 9943
            - 10101
            - 12102
            - 12103
            - 12322
            - 13145
            - 13394
            - 13504
            - 13505
            - 13506
            - 13507
            - 14102
            - 14103
            - 14154
            - 49180
            - 65520
            - 65535
    filter_main_local_ranges:
        DestinationIp|cidr:
            - '127.0.0.0/8'
            - '10.0.0.0/8'
            - '172.16.0.0/12'
            - '192.168.0.0/16'
            - '169.254.0.0/16'
            - '::1/128'  # IPv6 loopback
            - 'fe80::/10'  # IPv6 link-local addresses
            - 'fc00::/7'  # IPv6 private addresses
    filter_optional_sys_directories:
        Image|startswith:
            - 'C:\Program Files\'
            - 'C:\Program Files (x86)\'
    condition: selection and not 1 of filter_main_* and not 1 of filter_optional_*
falsepositives:
    - Unknown
level: high

KQL (Azure Sentinel)

imNetworkSession
| where (NetworkDirection =~ "true" and (DstPortNumber in~ ("100", "198", "200", "243", "473", "666", "700", "743", "777", "1443", "1515", "1777", "1817", "1904", "1960", "2443", "2448", "3360", "3675", "3939", "4040", "4433", "4438", "4443", "4444", "4455", "5445", "5552", "5649", "6625", "7210", "7777", "8143", "8843", "9631", "9943", "10101", "12102", "12103", "12322", "13145", "13394", "13504", "13505", "13506", "13507", "14102", "14103", "14154", "49180", "65520", "65535"))) and (not((ipv4_is_in_range(DstIpAddr, "127.0.0.0/8") or ipv4_is_in_range(DstIpAddr, "10.0.0.0/8") or ipv4_is_in_range(DstIpAddr, "172.16.0.0/12") or ipv4_is_in_range(DstIpAddr, "192.168.0.0/16") or ipv4_is_in_range(DstIpAddr, "169.254.0.0/16") or ipv4_is_in_range(DstIpAddr, "::1/128") or ipv4_is_in_range(DstIpAddr, "fe80::/10") or ipv4_is_in_range(DstIpAddr, "fc00::/7")))) and (not(((SrcProcessName startswith "C:\\Program Files\\" or SrcProcessName startswith "C:\\Program Files (x86)\\") or (DstProcessName startswith "C:\\Program Files\\" or DstProcessName startswith "C:\\Program Files (x86)\\"))))

Required Data Sources

Sentinel TableNotes
imNetworkSessionEnsure this data connector is enabled

False Positive Guidance

MITRE ATT&CK Context

References

Original source: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/windows/network_connection/net_connection_win_susp_malware_callback_port.yml