Suspicious Image File Execution Options Debugger Hijack by Miner Campaign

PremiumReviewedSigma · High · v1
Product
windows
Category
registry_set
Author
HuntRule
Published
2026-07-04
Updated
2026-08-28

ATT&CK techniques

Persistence → Priv Esc
  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Initial Access

  4. Execution

  5. Defense Evasion

  6. Cred Access

  7. Discovery

  8. Lateral Movement

  9. Collection

  10. C2

  11. Exfiltration

  12. Impact

What it detects

This rule detects creation of a Debugger or MonitorProcess value under Image File Execution Options, an IFEO hijack the Wazuh-agent miner campaign uses for persistence and to launch its payload when a targeted process starts. IFEO debugger entries are seldom set legitimately and are a well-known persistence and injection vector.

Related detections4 linkedT1546.012 — drag to rearrange
Malicious IFEO Debugger Hijack of vds.exe by FishMonger
Suspicious Command Processor AutoRun Persistence via Registry Set
Windows Registry App Paths Default Property Change Using Suspicious Values
Windows Registry Persistence via Image File Execution Options GlobalFlag and SilentProcessExit
Suspicious Image File Execution Options Debugger Hijack by Miner Campaign
Pivot detection · T1546.012 · 4 related

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