Malicious Kimsuky VBE Payload Download via Curl to AppData and Execution (via process_creation)

ATT&CK techniques

Execution → C2

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
- T1059.005Visual Basic
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
- T1105Ingress Tool Transfer
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects a command shell chain that uses curl to download a remote payload into the user AppData Roaming directory as a VBScript encoded file and then executes it, the delivery behavior of a Kimsuky LNK campaign abusing remote control tools across Northeast Asia. Adversaries leverage curl as a trusted utility to stage a bot.vbe beacon while blending with normal traffic, making early detection critical for catching the intrusion at the delivery stage.

Reporting behind it

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Malicious Remote MSI Execution with Image Extension via msiexec (via process_creation)

Malicious Kimsuky VBE Payload Download via Curl to AppData and Execution (via process_creation)

Pivot detection · T1105 · 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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