Suspicious Mshta Autorun Persistence via Registry Set

ATT&CK techniques

Persistence → Defense Evasion

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
- T1547.001Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder
Priv Esc
- T1547.001Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder
Defense Evasion
- T1218.005Mshta
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects a Run key value pointing to mshta.exe, the registry persistence UAT-11795 plants to relaunch its Starland RAT loader at logon as reported by Cisco Talos. A HKCU Run entry that invokes mshta is highly atypical of legitimate software. Detecting it exposes autorun persistence tied to the script-based loader.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1547.001 — drag to rearrange

Suspicious PowerShell Spawned by mshta.exe in FakeSG Chain (via process_creation)

Suspicious Internet Shortcut URL File Registered for Run Key Persistence (via registry_set)

Suspicious Hidden PowerShell Spawned by MSHTA for Boot Persistence (via process_creation)

Malicious HTA Payload Download and Execution via PowerShell One-Liner (via process_creation)

Malicious Run Key Persistence Named SystemAgentService

Suspicious Run Key Persistence Pointing to ProgramData Executable (via registry_set)

Suspicious Run Key Persistence Pointing to WScript via PhantomVAI Loader (via registry_set)

Suspicious Run Key Persistence Named Updater

Suspicious Run Key Persistence Executing VBScript as WindowsSecurityCheck

Suspicious Mshta Autorun Persistence via Registry Set

Pivot detection · T1547.001 · 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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