MuddyWater NetBird Deployment via Hardcoded Setup Key (via process_creation)

ATT&CK techniques

C2

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
- T1219Remote Access Tools
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects NetBird being configured with the hardcoded setup key reused across MuddyWater samples targeting CFOs, a remote-access persistence behavior. Adversaries leverage a known setup key to silently enroll compromised hosts into their NetBird overlay network for hands-on access.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1219 — drag to rearrange

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Suspicious NetSupport Manager Client Executing From ProgramData via Process Creation (via process_creation)

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Suspicious AnyDesk Unattended Password Set via Piped Echo

Suspicious Remote Monitoring Tool Executing from GoAnywhere Directory

Suspicious NetSupport Manager Remote Client Execution (via process_creation)

Suspicious ScreenConnect Remote Access Client Spawning PowerShell (via process_creation)

MuddyWater NetBird Deployment via Hardcoded Setup Key (via process_creation)

Pivot detection · T1219 · 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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