Suspicious Fodhelper UAC Bypass ms-settings Command Registry Modification

ATT&CK techniques

Priv Esc → Defense Evasion

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
- T1548.002Bypass User Account Control
Defense Evasion
- T1548.002Bypass User Account Control
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects creation of the HKCU ms-settings shell open command key used to hijack fodhelper.exe for a UAC bypass, a technique used in the Ducktail PowerShell chain to gain elevation. Attackers stage a payload path in this key so that auto-elevated fodhelper executes it without a consent prompt.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1548.002 — drag to rearrange

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Suspicious Fodhelper UAC Bypass ms-settings Command Registry Modification

Pivot detection · T1548.002 · 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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