sysmon-modular
sysmon-modular is a community-maintained repository of modular Sysmon configurations for Windows endpoint monitoring and threat detection. It provides pre-generated balanced, verbose, and specialized configs (e.g., for MDE augmentation) that can be customized and merged using PowerShell scripts to fit specific security environments.
Key facts
Objective fields from the source. Values we can't verify are shown as “Unknown” rather than guessed.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Repository | olafhartong/sysmon-modular |
| Owner | olafhartong |
| Primary language | PowerShell |
| License | MIT — OSI-approved |
| Stars | 3.1k |
| Forks | 646 |
| Open issues | 47 |
| Latest release | Unknown |
| Last updated | 2026-06-25 |
| Source | https://github.com/olafhartong/sysmon-modular |
What sysmon-modular is
The project organizes Sysmon event monitoring rules into numbered modules (process creation, network connections, registry events, etc.) that users can selectively combine via PowerShell merge functions. Configs are validated against Sysmon 15+ in Azure Pipelines; older versions available on separate branches. Supports include/exclude list filtering and custom configuration generation.
Get the sysmon-modular source
Clone the repository and explore it locally.
git clone https://github.com/olafhartong/sysmon-modular.gitcd sysmon-modular# follow the project's README for install & configurationNeed it deployed, integrated, or customized instead? DEV.co ships production installs.
Best use cases
Implementation considerations
- Clone repository, review all modules before deployment, and test configs (especially verbose/research variants) in isolated lab environment to measure performance impact and log volume.
- Customize exclusions for your antivirus, EDR, and organizational software to prevent log bloat; maintain minimal config variance across environment (DC/server/workstation) for operational simplicity.
- Use PowerShell merge functions with -IncludeList or -ExcludeList parameters to assemble environment-specific configs; validate merged XML against target Sysmon version before distribution.
- Monitor sysmon service resource consumption (CPU, memory, disk I/O) post-deployment; consider separate lighter config for production vs. research config for incident investigation periods.
- Integrate generated sysmonconfig.xml with SIEM/log aggregation; ensure logs are parsed and indexed; consider ingesting to detection engine (YARA, Sigma rules) for automated alerting.
When to avoid it — and what to weigh
- Hands-off, fully managed security desired — Requires active tuning per environment (antivirus exclusions, custom filtering). README explicitly states configurations are starting points; unvalidated deployment risks log overflow or false negatives.
- Sysmon versions below 15 — Repository targets Sysmon 15+; older versions have incomplete compatibility. Legacy branches exist but are not maintained to same level as current version.
- Zero-configuration, out-of-box deployment needed — Customization and environment-specific validation are mandatory prerequisites. Verbose/research configs can generate significant CPU/memory overhead and require careful tuning before production use.
- Closed-source compliance or proprietary rule secrecy — MIT license requires source transparency; configurations are public and community-editable. Unsuitable if organization requires confidential, proprietary detection rules.
License & commercial use
MIT License. Permissive OSI-approved license allowing commercial and private use, modification, and distribution with attribution. No warranty provided. Full text available in repository license.md.
MIT is a permissive OSI license compatible with commercial use. No licensing restrictions on using sysmon-modular configs or modifications in commercial environments. However, Sysmon itself is authored by Microsoft (Sysinternals); verify Sysmon's own EULA compliance for your use case. sysmon-modular itself carries no commercial licensing restrictions.
DEV.co evaluation signals
Editorial assessment — not user reviews. Directional, with an explicit confidence level.
| Signal | Assessment |
|---|---|
| Maintenance | Active |
| Documentation | Adequate |
| License clarity | Clear |
| Deployment complexity | Moderate |
| DEV.co fit | Strong |
| Assessment confidence | High |
Sysmon-modular provides detection configuration, not security guarantees. Effectiveness depends on Sysmon itself (Microsoft-maintained), underlying Windows kernel telemetry, and proper tuning to avoid evasion bypasses. Verbose configs may introduce logging side-channels; research configs should never run in production. Configs are public; adversaries can craft evasion techniques. MITRE ATT&CK coverage is community-driven; gaps may exist for emerging techniques. No formal threat modeling or security audit mentioned. Validate configs against your threat model before deployment.
Alternatives to consider
SwiftOnSecurity/sysmon-config
Similar modular Sysmon config project with MITRE ATT&CK annotations; smaller community (1.5k stars) and less frequently updated; good for simpler, more conservative baseline.
Palantir/windows-event-forwarding
Broader Windows event collection framework (not Sysmon-specific) using native Event Log; less granular but integrates with WEF infrastructure; suited for large enterprises with existing WEF pipelines.
OSQuery
Cross-platform endpoint monitoring (Linux/macOS/Windows) with declarative queries; different operational model (lightweight agent, flexible queries); replaces Sysmon for heterogeneous infrastructure but less Windows-tuned.
Build on sysmon-modular with DEV.co software developers
Clone the repository, review pre-generated configs, and customize exclusions for your environment. Test in a lab before production deployment. Validate configs against Sysmon 15+ and your threat model.
Talk to DEV.coRelated open-source tools
Surfaced by semantic similarity across the DEV.co open-source index.
Related on DEV.co
Explore the category and the services that help you build with it.
sysmon-modular FAQ
Do I need to run all modules or can I pick and choose?
Will this configuration work with Sysmon versions older than 15?
How often is the project updated, and what is the release schedule?
Can I use these configs in a commercial/production environment?
Software development & web development with DEV.co
DEV.co helps companies turn open-source tools like sysmon-modular into production software. Our software development services cover the full lifecycle — architecture, web development, integration, and maintenance — delivered by software developers and web developers who ship. Engage our software development agency to implement or customize it for your open-source security stack.
Get Started with Sysmon Modular
Clone the repository, review pre-generated configs, and customize exclusions for your environment. Test in a lab before production deployment. Validate configs against Sysmon 15+ and your threat model.