Renamed Curl Utility Used for Payload Download (via process_creation)

ATT&CK techniques

Defense Evasion → C2

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
- T1036.003Rename Legitimate Utilities
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
- T1105Ingress Tool Transfer
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects the curl utility executing under a renamed image name, a masquerading technique used by the DarkGate loader campaign where a renamed curl binary pulled AutoIt payloads from attacker infrastructure. Adversaries rename trusted download tools to evade name-based controls, making a curl OriginalFileName under a non-curl image a strong indicator of staged payload retrieval.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1105 — drag to rearrange

Windows Process Creation: bitsadmin Downloads Files to Suspicious Directories

Windows Process Creation: BITSAdmin Downloading File with Suspicious Extension

Windows BITSAdmin Downloads from File-Sharing Domains

Windows BITSAdmin File Download via bitsadmin.exe with Transfer/Addfile Arguments

Suspicious File with High Volume Downloaded via BITS (via bits)

ClickFix PowerShell Download Cradle Launched From Run Dialog (via process_creation)

PowerShell Hidden DownloadString Execution via ClickFix Fake CAPTCHA (via process_creation)

Suspicious Download of XMRig Miner via Wget (JINX-0132)

Suspicious Linux Payload Fetch Piping curl Output Into a Shell

Renamed Curl Utility Used for Payload Download (via process_creation)

Pivot detection · T1105 · 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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