Malicious cdb.exe Masquerading as fontdrvhost in ProgramData (via process_creation)

PremiumReviewedSigma · High · v1
Product
windows
Category
process_creation
Author
HuntRule
Published
2026-10-20
Updated
2026-10-20

ATT&CK techniques

Defense Evasion
  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Initial Access

  4. Execution

  5. Persistence

  6. Priv Esc

  7. Cred Access

  8. Discovery

  9. Lateral Movement

  10. Collection

  11. C2

  12. Exfiltration

  13. Impact

What it detects

This rule detects the renamed Windows debugger cdb.exe masquerading as fontdrvhost.exe in C:\ProgramData and loading shellcode from config.ini, a loader used by the Squidoor backdoor. Running the signed cdb LOLBin under a spoofed name from a non-standard path proxies malicious code execution past application controls.

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Malicious cdb.exe Masquerading as fontdrvhost in ProgramData (via process_creation)
Pivot detection · T1218 · 9 related

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