Malicious REF5961 PsExec-Style Remote Service Execution from Windows Help Directory via Process Creation

ATT&CK techniques

Lateral Movement

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
- T1021.002SMB/Windows Admin Shares
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects PsExec-style remote execution that runs a payload as a service from the Windows help directory as seen in the REF5961 intrusion set deploying RUDEBIRD, where an actor uses the accepteula system service flags together with a help directory path to move laterally and run code under a masqueraded location for stealth.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1021.002 — drag to rearrange

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Suspicious PsExec Service Launching Encoded PowerShell Payload

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Suspicious Active Directory Reconnaissance via In-Memory Offensive PowerShell (via ps_script)

Suspicious NetExec Post-Exploitation Tool Execution via nxc (via process_creation)

Suspicious SMB Admin Share Mapping for Lateral Tool Transfer (via process_creation)

Suspicious Impacket Remote Execution Tool Usage via process_creation

Malicious REF5961 PsExec-Style Remote Service Execution from Windows Help Directory via Process Creation

Pivot detection · T1021.002 · 9 related

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

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