Malicious Notepad++ Updater Chain via gup.exe Spawning update.exe (via process_creation)

ATT&CK techniques

Initial Access

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
- T1195.002Compromise Software Supply Chain
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects the Notepad++ GUP updater gup.exe spawning update.exe, the NSIS-based infection chain seen in the nation-state Notepad++ supply-chain compromise. The trusted updater is subverted to launch a malicious installer that side-loads the Chrysalis payload.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1195.002 — drag to rearrange

Malicious TeamPCP durabletask Payload python3 managed.pyz from tmp (via process_creation)

Malicious PowerShell Download from bullethost.cloud Staging Server

Suspicious NPM Install Hook Executing Setup Script via Node

Suspicious Shai-Hulud Worm Stager Execution from Temp (via process_creation)

Suspicious Double Base64 Decoded Payload Piped to Shell in CI (reviewdog Supply Chain)

Suspicious Node.js Spawning PowerShell Archive Download to Temp

Suspicious Child Process Spawned by 3CXDesktopApp via Supply Chain Compromise

Suspicious Network Download Spawned by Node.js During Package Install

Malicious Bun Runtime Payload Dropped by Shai Hulud npm Supply Chain Attack

Malicious Notepad++ Updater Chain via gup.exe Spawning update.exe (via process_creation)

Pivot detection · T1195.002 · 9 related

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

Full detection rule

Unlock this rule to view and copy it

The detection logic is included with a plan. Everything else — context, mappings and implementation details — stays free on this page.

Sign in for 3 free unlocks

Signing in gives you 3 unlocks to spend on any rule in the library. No card, and they do not expire.

Also included

Unlocked rules convert on this page — to Splunk SPL or Splunk — Raw Index SPL or Microsoft Sentinel KQL or Microsoft Sentinel ASIM ASIM KQL or Microsoft Defender XDR KQL or Elastic Security KQL or Elastic Security Lucene or Elastic Security ES|QL or CrowdStrike Falcon CQL or SentinelOne PowerQuery or Palo Alto Cortex XDR XQL or Carbon Black Cloud Platform Search or Carbon Black EDR Process Search or Google Security Operations UDM Search or IBM QRadar AQL or Sumo Logic Cloud SIEM Rules expression or Rapid7 InsightIDR LEQL or Graylog Search or OpenSearch Lucene or OpenSearch PPL PPL or Grafana Loki LogQL or SQLite SQL or Zircolite SQLite — with the log-source profile the engine picked, the field map it used, and everything it could not express. Converting a rule you have unlocked costs no further credit.

See it run on a free rule →Convert your own rule →