Suspicious MSHTA Execution of Polyglot PDF File Spawned by cmd (via process_creation)

ATT&CK techniques

Defense Evasion

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
- T1036.007Double File Extension
- T1218.005Mshta
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects mshta.exe launched by cmd.exe with a PDF file argument, matching the UNK_CraftyCamel chain where an LNK ran cmd then mshta to execute a PDF and HTA polyglot. Legitimate mshta rarely processes files with a .pdf extension.

Reporting behind it

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Suspicious MSHTA Execution of Polyglot PDF File Spawned by cmd (via process_creation)

Pivot detection · T1218.005 · 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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