← Back to SOC feed Coverage →

Detects malware from Project Sauron APT

yara LOW Yara-Rules
aptcommunityproject_sauron
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 Yara-Rules →
Retrieved: 2026-06-03T23:00:00Z · Confidence: medium

Hunt Hypothesis

Adversaries using Project Sauron APT may deploy custom malware that leverages Azure environment privileges to establish persistence and exfiltrate data. SOC teams should proactively hunt for this behavior to identify and mitigate advanced persistent threats within their Azure infrastructure.

YARA Rule

rule APT_Project_Sauron_Custom_M6 
{

    meta:
        description = "Detects malware from Project Sauron APT"
        author = "FLorian Roth"
        reference = "https://goo.gl/eFoP4A"
        date = "2016-08-09"
        hash1 = "3782b63d7f6f688a5ccb1b72be89a6a98bb722218c9f22402709af97a41973c8"

    strings:
        $s1 = "rseceng.dll" fullword wide
        $s2 = "Remote Security Engine" fullword wide
        $op0 = { 8b 0d d5 1d 00 00 85 c9 0f 8e a2 } /* Opcode */
        $op1 = { 80 75 6e 85 c0 79 6a 66 41 83 38 0a 75 63 0f b7 } /* Opcode */
        $op2 = { 80 75 29 85 c9 79 25 b9 01 } /* Opcode */
   
    condition:
        ( uint16(0) == 0x5a4d and filesize < 200KB and ( all of ($s*) ) and 1 of ($op*) ) or ( all of them )
}

Deployment Notes

This YARA rule can be deployed in the following contexts:

This rule contains 5 string patterns in its detection logic.

References

False Positive Guidance

Original source: https://github.com/Yara-Rules/rules/blob/main/malware/APT_Sauron_extras.yar