ClickFix PowerShell In-Memory Execution via Invoke-RestMethod Piped to Invoke-Expression (via process_creation)

ATT&CK techniques

Execution

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
- T1059.001PowerShell
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects the ClickFix golden pattern in which PowerShell retrieves a remote payload with Invoke-RestMethod and immediately runs it through Invoke-Expression, executing code entirely in memory. Adversaries leverage this download-and-run one-liner delivered through pastejacking overlays, making the paired cmdlets a reliable ClickFix execution indicator.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1059.001 — drag to rearrange

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Suspicious PowerShell Download Cradle via IEX and DownloadString (via process_creation)

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ClickFix PowerShell In-Memory Execution via Invoke-RestMethod Piped to Invoke-Expression (via process_creation)

Pivot detection · T1059.001 · 9 related

Detection content is published as a reviewed draft. Tune thresholds and exclusions against your own telemetry before enabling this rule for alerting.

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