Suspicious Download Utility Spawned by Java Process

PremiumReviewedSigma · Medium · v1
Category
process_creation
Author
HuntRule
Published
2026-10-16
Updated
2026-10-16

ATT&CK techniques

C2
  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Initial Access

  4. Execution

  5. Persistence

  6. Priv Esc

  7. Defense Evasion

  8. Cred Access

  9. Discovery

  10. Lateral Movement

  11. Collection

  12. Exfiltration

  13. Impact

What it detects

This rule detects a Java process spawning a download utility such as curl or wget which is a common post exploitation pattern after Log4Shell remote code execution as described in NCC Group Log4Shell detection research. Adversaries use the compromised Java application to pull second stage payloads onto the host so a Java parented download tool warrants investigation.

Related detections9 linkedT1105 — drag to rearrange
Suspicious File Download via certutil URLCache (via process_creation)
Malicious AutoHotKey Runner AutoNotify Executing AHKBot Looper Script (via process_creation)
Suspicious Remote Payload Download Piped to Shell on Linux (via process_creation)
Suspicious APT42 Remote Payload Download via PowerShell Web Client (via ps_script)
Suspicious bitsadmin Download of Python Payload via COLDRIVER
Malicious CivilDefense Loader Spawning civildefensestarter Payload (via process_creation)
Malicious CrowdStrike Falcon RTR Abuse Downloading From fleetdeck.io by UNC3944 (via process_creation)
Suspicious Chromium Browser Launch With Remote Debugging for DRILLAPP (via process_creation)
Malicious Silver Fox PowerShell Download Cradle via irm and iex (via process_creation)
Suspicious Download Utility Spawned by Java Process
Pivot detection · T1105 · 9 related

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