Potentially Suspicious Child Process Of VsCode (via process_creation)

title: Potentially Suspicious Child Process Of VsCode (via process_creation)
id: 16478783-203b-535f-9363-078d449cf216
status: stable
description: This rule detects uncommon or anomalous child processes spawning from a VsCode "code.exe" process. This could indicate an attempt of persistence via VsCode tasks or terminal profiles.
references:
    - https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1202/
    - https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1218/
    - https://twitter.com/nas_bench/status/1618021838407495681
    - https://twitter.com/nas_bench/status/1618021415852335105
author: Huntrule Team
date: 2026-06-16
tags:
    - attack.execution
    - attack.stealth
    - attack.t1218
    - attack.t1202
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection_parent:
        ParentImage|endswith: '\code.exe'
    selection_children_images:
        Image|endswith:
            - '\calc.exe'
            - '\regsvr32.exe'
            - '\rundll32.exe'
            - '\cscript.exe'
            - '\wscript.exe'
    selection_children_cli:
        Image|endswith:
            - '\powershell.exe'
            - '\pwsh.exe'
            - '\cmd.exe'
        CommandLine|contains:
            - 'Invoke-Expressions'
            - 'IEX'
            - 'Invoke-Command'
            - 'ICM'
            - 'DownloadString'
            - 'rundll32'
            - 'regsvr32'
            - 'wscript'
            - 'cscript'
    selection_children_paths:
        Image|contains:
            - ':\Users\Public\'
            - ':\Windows\Temp\'
            - ':\Temp\'
    condition: selection_parent and 1 of selection_children_*
falsepositives:
    - Unknown
level: medium