Suspicious Kimsuky Global Template Macro Persistence via Normal.dotm Modification (via file_event)

PremiumReviewedSigma · Medium · v1
Product
windows
Category
file_event
Author
HuntRule
Published
2026-10-26
Updated
2026-10-26

ATT&CK techniques

Persistence
  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Initial Access

  4. Execution

  5. Priv Esc

  6. Defense Evasion

  7. Cred Access

  8. Discovery

  9. Lateral Movement

  10. Collection

  11. C2

  12. Exfiltration

  13. Impact

What it detects

This rule detects modification of the Microsoft Word global template Normal.dotm, which Kimsuky abused to persist malicious macros across all Word sessions. The reconnaissance toolkit injects code into the template so that it runs whenever Word starts. Because users can legitimately customize this template, corroborating context should be reviewed.

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Suspicious Kimsuky Global Template Macro Persistence via Normal.dotm Modification (via file_event)
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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.