Suspicious Child Process Spawned by Notepad++ Updater GUP

ATT&CK techniques

Initial Access → Execution

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
- T1195.002Compromise Software Supply Chain
Execution
- T1059.003Windows Command Shell
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects the Notepad++ updater GUP.exe spawning a command shell, curl or a secondary update.exe process. The Notepad++ supply chain attack abused GUP.exe to launch downstream execution chains and a Cobalt Strike loader as documented by Kaspersky. The trusted updater spawning these child processes indicates a compromised update and supply chain execution.

Reporting behind it

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Suspicious Child Process Spawned by Notepad++ Updater GUP

Pivot detection · T1059.003 · 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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