Suspicious Inline node.exe Command Executing Network and Process Spawning Code

PremiumReviewedSigma · Medium · v1
Product
windows
Category
process_creation
Author
HuntRule
Published
2026-08-27
Updated
2026-08-28

ATT&CK techniques

Execution → C2
  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Initial Access

  4. Persistence

  5. Priv Esc

  6. Defense Evasion

  7. Cred Access

  8. Discovery

  9. Lateral Movement

  10. Collection

  11. Exfiltration

  12. Impact

What it detects

This rule detects node.exe invoked with inline evaluated code that references network, command execution, and filesystem modules such as http, execSync, spawn, fs, and zlib. Microsoft attributed this pattern to Node.js malware that downloads and runs additional payloads directly from the command line. Inline module chaining lets the attacker fetch and execute code without dropping a script file, making it a strong indicator of malicious activity.

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