Analyzing Powershell Empire ArtifactsSAFE

817 structured cybersecurity skills for AI agents · Mapped to 6 frameworks: MITRE ATT&CK, NIST CSF 2.0, MITRE ATLAS, D3FEND, NIST AI RMF & MITRE F3 (Fight Fraud) · agentskills.io standard · Works with Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Codex CLI, Cursor, Gemini CLI & 20+ platforms · 29 security domains ·

The instruction file, verbatim from the audited commit — this is the text the model reads, and the surface the audit's instruction layer examines. Quoted here so you can judge it without cloning anything.

---
name: analyzing-powershell-empire-artifacts
description: Detect PowerShell Empire post-exploitation framework artifacts in Windows Script Block Logging (Event ID 4104) and Module Logging (Event ID 4103), including the default launcher string, Base64-encoded WebClient/FromBase64String payloads, known module invocations (Invoke-Mimikatz, Invoke-Kerberoast), and staging URL patterns. Use when hunting for or confirming Empire C2 activity in Windows event logs.
domain: cybersecurity
subdomain: threat-hunting
tags:
- PowerShell-Empire
- threat-hunting
- Script-Block-Logging
- base64
- stager
- C2
- MITRE-ATT&CK
- T1059.001
- forensics
version: '1.0'
author: mahipal
license: Apache-2.0
d3fend_techniques:
- Executable Denylisting
- Execution Isolation
- File Metadata Consistency Validation
- Content Format Conversion
- File Content Analysis
nist_ai_rmf:
- GOVERN-1.1
- MEASURE-2.7
- MANAGE-3.1
nist_csf:
- DE.CM-01
- DE.AE-02
- DE.AE-07
- ID.RA-05
mitre_attack:
- T1059.001
- T1071.001
- T1003.001
- T1558.003
- T1027.010
---

# Analyzing PowerShell Empire Artifacts

## Overview

PowerShell Empire is a post-exploitation framework consisting of listeners, stagers, and agents. Its artifacts leave detectable traces in Windows event logs, particularly PowerShell Script Block Logging (Event ID 4104) and Module Logging (Event ID 4103). This skill analyzes event logs for Empire's default launcher string (`powershell -noP -sta -w 1 -enc`), Base64 encoded payloads containing `System.Net.WebClient` and `FromBase64String`, known module invocations (Invoke-Mimikatz, Invoke-Kerberoast, Invoke-TokenManipulation), and staging URL patterns.


## When to Use

- When investigating security incidents that require analyzing powershell empire artifacts
- When building detection rules or threat hunting queries for this domain
- When SOC analysts need structured procedures for this analysis type
- When validating security monitoring coverage for related attack techniques

## Prerequisites

- Python 3.9+ with access to Windows Event Log or exported EVTX files
- PowerShell Script Block Logging (Event ID 4104) enabled via Group Policy
- Module Logging (Event ID 4103) enabled for comprehensive coverage

## Key Detection Patterns

1. **Default launcher** — `powershell -noP -sta -w 1 -enc` followed by Base64 blob
2. **Stager indicators** — `System.Net.WebClient`, `DownloadData`, `DownloadString`, `FromBase64String`
3. **Module signatures** — Invoke-Mimikatz, Invoke-Kerberoast, Invoke-TokenManipulation, Invoke-PSInject, Invoke-DCOM
4. **User agent strings** — default Empire user agents in HTTP listener configuration
5. **Staging URLs** — `/login/process.php`, `/admin/get.php` and similar default URI patterns

## Output

JSON report with matched IOCs, decoded Base64 payloads, timeline of suspicious events, MITRE ATT&CK technique mappings, and severity scores.

SAFEgrade B · trust 89/100 Nothing in the source contradicts what it says it does. Grade A is reserved for packages that have also passed the behavioural sandbox.

What the source does

Filesystem

none-observed

Network

none-observed

Shell

none-observed

Dependencies

pinned

Secrets in source

none-found

Findings (2)

decoded_bytes = base64.b64decode(encoded_string)

decoded_bytes = base64.b64decode(encoded_string)

Gates applied: no_behavioural_pass.