Suspicious COLDRIVER Fileless Payload Storage in Explorer CLSID DefaultIcon (via registry_set)

PremiumReviewedSigma · High · v1
Product
windows
Category
registry_set
Author
HuntRule
Published
2026-05-21
Updated
2026-08-28

ATT&CK techniques

Defense Evasion
  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Initial Access

  4. Execution

  5. Persistence

  6. Priv Esc

  7. Cred Access

  8. Discovery

  9. Lateral Movement

  10. Collection

  11. C2

  12. Exfiltration

  13. Impact

What it detects

This rule detects registry writes storing encrypted payload data in the Explorer CLSID DefaultIcon subkey using the EnthusiastMode and QatItems values as done by the COLDRIVER SIMPLEFIX loader. Storing binary blobs in this location is a fileless evasion technique.

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Suspicious COLDRIVER Fileless Payload Storage in Explorer CLSID DefaultIcon (via registry_set)
Pivot detection · T1027.011 · 2 related

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