Renamed Visual Studio Code Tunnel Execution

calendar Sep 22, 2025 · attack.command-and-control attack.t1071.001 attack.t1219  ·
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Detects renamed Visual Studio Code tunnel execution. Attackers can abuse this functionality to establish a C2 channel

Sigma rule (View on GitHub)

 1title: Renamed Visual Studio Code Tunnel Execution
 2id: 2cf29f11-e356-4f61-98c0-1bdb9393d6da
 3status: test
 4description: Detects renamed Visual Studio Code tunnel execution. Attackers can abuse this functionality to establish a C2 channel
 5references:
 6    - https://ipfyx.fr/post/visual-studio-code-tunnel/
 7    - https://badoption.eu/blog/2023/01/31/code_c2.html
 8    - https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/remote/tunnels
 9author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
10date: 2023-09-28
11modified: 2025-10-29
12tags:
13    - attack.command-and-control
14    - attack.t1071.001
15    - attack.t1219
16logsource:
17    category: process_creation
18    product: windows
19detection:
20    selection_image_only_tunnel:
21        OriginalFileName: null
22        CommandLine|endswith: '.exe tunnel'
23    selection_image_tunnel_args:
24        CommandLine|contains|all:
25            - '.exe tunnel'
26            - '--accept-server-license-terms'
27    selection_image_tunnel_service:
28        CommandLine|contains|all:
29            - 'tunnel '
30            - 'service'
31            - 'internal-run'
32            - 'tunnel-service.log'
33    selection_parent_tunnel:
34        ParentCommandLine|endswith: ' tunnel'
35        Image|endswith: '\cmd.exe'
36        CommandLine|contains|all:
37            - '/d /c '
38            - '\servers\Stable-'
39            - 'code-server.cmd'
40    filter_main_parent_code:
41        ParentImage|endswith:
42            - '\code-tunnel.exe'
43            - '\code.exe'
44    filter_main_image_code:
45        Image|endswith:
46            - '\code-tunnel.exe'
47            - '\code.exe'
48    condition: (1 of selection_image_* and not 1 of filter_main_image_*) or (selection_parent_tunnel and not 1 of filter_main_parent_*)
49falsepositives:
50    - Unknown
51level: high

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