Suspicious Execution of PIF File from Temporary Directory via Lumma Stealer Loader (via process_creation)
- Product
- windows
- Category
- process_creation
- Author
- HuntRule
- Published
- 2026-09-13
- Updated
- 2026-09-13
ATT&CK techniques
Defense EvasionRecon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact
What it detects
This rule detects execution of a PIF file staged from a temporary directory. The CypherIt loader delivering Lumma Stealer renamed its AutoIt payload with a PIF extension and ran it from a numeric folder under the temp path to masquerade as a legitimate executable. Execution of a PIF file from a temp directory is unusual on modern systems.
Reporting behind it
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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Also included
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