Malicious Cloud Instance Metadata Token Theft via IMDS Identity Endpoint (via process_creation)
- Product
- windows
- Category
- process_creation
- Author
- HuntRule
- Published
- 2026-10-14
- Updated
- 2026-10-14
ATT&CK techniques
Cred AccessRecon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact
What it detects
This rule detects command lines requesting an OAuth token from the Azure instance metadata service identity endpoint at 169.254.169.254. Threat actors queried IMDS from a compromised SQL Server host to steal the managed identity token and move laterally into the cloud.
Reporting behind it
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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