Suspicious Boot Configuration Change to Safeboot Minimal via bcdedit
- Product
- windows
- Category
- process_creation
- Author
- HuntRule
- Published
- 2026-06-19
- Updated
- 2026-08-28
ATT&CK techniques
Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact
What it detects
This rule detects use of bcdedit to set the boot configuration to safeboot minimal, forcing the host to reboot into Safe Mode where most endpoint security agents do not load. The ToyMaker intrusion used this to disable protections before hands-on-keyboard activity, so it is a high-confidence defense-evasion signal preceding credential theft or ransomware deployment.
Reporting behind it
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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