CMSTP UAC Bypass via Automatic Install Flag (via process_creation)

ATT&CK techniques

Defense Evasion

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
- T1218.003CMSTP
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects cmstp.exe invoked with the /au automatic-install flag, the User Account Control bypass used by the Caminho loader in the PureRAT chain to run an INF-defined command with elevated privileges. Adversaries leverage CMSTP as a trusted binary to silently elevate and execute payloads, making detection of this rarely legitimate flag critical for catching privilege escalation before process hollowing.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1218.003 — drag to rearrange

CMSTP Execution of an INF Profile (via process_creation)

Suspicious CMSTP Execution With INF Payload via process_creation

Windows: cmstp.exe Loading DLL/OCX from Suspicious Paths

Windows Network Connection from Cmstp.EXE (Outbound)

Windows: Command-line execution of cmstp.exe with INF install/silent/autobind flags (UAC bypass pattern)

Windows CMSTP UAC Bypass Attempt via Autoelevate COM Object DllHost Execution

Windows Process Access to cmlua.dll by CMSTP Connection Manager Profile Installer

Windows CMSTP Process Spawning Child Process

Windows Registry Events: CMSTP Execution via cmmgr32.exe TargetObject

CMSTP UAC Bypass via Automatic Install Flag (via process_creation)

Pivot detection · T1218.003 · 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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