Suspicious CMD Script Dropped in Startup Folder for Persistence

PremiumReviewedSigma · Medium · v1
Product
windows
Category
file_event
Author
HuntRule
Published
2026-06-22
Updated
2026-08-28

ATT&CK techniques

Persistence → Priv Esc
  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Initial Access

  4. Execution

  5. Defense Evasion

  6. Cred Access

  7. Discovery

  8. Lateral Movement

  9. Collection

  10. C2

  11. Exfiltration

  12. Impact

What it detects

This rule detects creation of a .cmd batch file inside the user Startup folder. The Lampion loader plants a command script in the Startup directory so it runs automatically at each logon. Batch scripts appearing in the Startup folder are an uncommon and high-value persistence indicator.

Related detections9 linkedT1547.001 — drag to rearrange
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Suspicious Run Key Persistence Executing VBScript as WindowsSecurityCheck
Suspicious RunOnce Persistence Pointing to User AppData
Malicious FalseFont Backdoor Run Key Persistence from AppData (via registry_set)
Malicious Registry Run Key Persistence via AHealthDB by Stately Taurus
Suspicious CMD Script Dropped in Startup Folder for Persistence
Pivot detection · T1547.001 · 9 related

Detection content is published as a reviewed draft. Tune thresholds and exclusions against your own telemetry before enabling this rule for alerting.