Suspicious Image File Execution Options Debugger Hijack

ATT&CK techniques

Persistence → Defense Evasion

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
- T1546.012Image File Execution Options Injection
Priv Esc
- T1055Process Injection
- T1546.012Image File Execution Options Injection
Defense Evasion
- T1055Process Injection
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects the creation of a Debugger value under an Image File Execution Options subkey, which causes an attacker-chosen program to launch whenever the named executable runs. This technique enables both persistence and injection into a targeted process as described in the process injection survey.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1055 — drag to rearrange

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Suspicious Image File Execution Options Debugger Hijack

Pivot detection · T1055 · 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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