Malicious PowerShell Download of vhost.exe Payload

ATT&CK techniques

C2

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

What it detects

This rule detects PowerShell retrieving a payload named vhost.exe over the network, the ingress tool transfer observed in the SimpleHelp abuse ransomware operation preceding encryption. The actor used PowerShell download cradles to pull the next-stage binary onto compromised hosts. A scripting host fetching this named executable indicates active staging of ransomware tooling.

Reporting behind it

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Malicious PowerShell Download of vhost.exe Payload

Pivot detection · T1105 · 9 related

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