Suspicious COM Handler Hijack of MsCtfMonitor CLSID via CharmingCypress

ATT&CK techniques

Persistence → Priv Esc

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
- T1546.015Component Object Model Hijacking
Priv Esc
- T1546.015Component Object Model Hijacking
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects registration of a COM InprocServer32 handler under the MsCtfMonitor task CLSID which CharmingCypress hijacked for persistence and code execution. Hijacking this scheduled-task COM object causes attacker code to load when the task triggers. This technique blends malicious execution into legitimate Windows components.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1546.015 — drag to rearrange

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Malicious COM Object Hijack Pointing to IconCache DLL

Suspicious COM Hijack via CLSID InprocServer32 Pointing to Writable Path (via registry_set)

Windows COM CLSID Hijacking via Registry Default InprocServer32/LocalServer32 Modification

Windows Registry COM InProcServer32 Hijack via PSFactory CLSID Default Value

Suspicious COM Handler Hijack of MsCtfMonitor CLSID via CharmingCypress

Pivot detection · T1546.015 · 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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