Malicious Non-Interactive Encoded PowerShell Stager (via process_creation)

ATT&CK techniques

Execution → Defense Evasion

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
- T1059.001PowerShell
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
- T1027Obfuscated Files or Information
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects a non-interactive PowerShell process launched with an encoded command from a command shell. This staging pattern was observed during exploitation of Cleo managed file transfer software to decode and run the next-stage payload for the Cleopatra backdoor.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1027 — drag to rearrange

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Obfuscated PowerShell Script: Indirect Cmdlet Execution via ExportedCommands Array Index

Suspicious PowerShell String Concatenation Obfuscation for Batch Extension via LNK (via process_creation)

Suspicious PowerShell Spawned from PyInstaller MEI Extraction Folder (via process_creation)

Suspicious PowerShell Encoded Command Execution

Suspicious PowerShell Invoke-Expression with Replace Obfuscation

Malicious Non-Interactive Encoded PowerShell Stager (via process_creation)

Pivot detection · T1027 · 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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