Malicious Run Key Persistence for Masqueraded vcpktsvr Loader

ATT&CK techniques

Persistence → Priv Esc

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
- T1547.001Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder
Priv Esc
- T1547.001Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects a Registry Run key value that points to vcpktsvr.exe inside a vcpacket folder under LOCALAPPDATA. The OceanLotus ZiChatBot campaign delivered via PyPI set a pkt-update autorun entry to relaunch this masqueraded loader at logon as reported by Kaspersky. A Run key referencing this fake service binary in a user directory indicates backdoor persistence.

Reporting behind it

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Malicious Run Key Persistence for Masqueraded vcpktsvr Loader

Pivot detection · T1547.001 · 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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