Suspicious Execution from Hidden Diagnostic Directory via Process Creation

ATT&CK techniques

Execution

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

What it detects

This rule detects execution of binaries from a hidden directory named .end or of the Diagnostic.exe and Windows.Diagnostic.Document.EXE loaders used in the MuddyWater eN-Able chain launched from an LNK attachment. Adversaries hide payloads in dot-prefixed folders and use benign-looking diagnostic filenames to evade casual inspection while a decoy window distracts the user.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1204.001 — drag to rearrange

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Suspicious cscript Execution of JavaScript Spawned by PowerShell

Suspicious Ukraine-Themed LNK Lure Files Dropped (via file_event)

Suspicious Renamed MySQL Binary Executed from Temp via ClickFix (via process_creation)

Windows ClickFix/FileFix Clipboard Phishing Leading to Suspicious mshta/powershell Command Execution

Windows Registry RunMRU Tampering with HTTP/HTTPS and Script Execution Indicators

Suspicious Execution from Hidden Diagnostic Directory via Process Creation

Pivot detection · T1204.001 · 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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