Suspicious Edge Update Setup Spawning PowerShell via ClearFake

ATT&CK techniques

Execution

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
- T1059.001PowerShell
- T1204.002Malicious File
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects a MicrosoftEdgeUpdateSetup lure executable spawning PowerShell. The ClearFake fake-update campaign delivers a spoofed Edge updater that launches PowerShell to fetch and run its next stage, an execution chain that legitimate browser updates do not produce.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1059.001 — drag to rearrange

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Suspicious PowerShell Download Spawned From Explorer via ClickFix (via process_creation)

Suspicious Lampion ClickFix PowerShell Download and Execute via Run Dialog

Suspicious cmd.exe Launching Encoded PowerShell From Shortcut File

Suspicious Encoded PowerShell Spawned from Explorer via ClickFix

Malicious Office Application Spawning Command Interpreter

Suspicious Edge Update Setup Spawning PowerShell via ClearFake

Pivot detection · T1059.001 · 9 related

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

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