Suspicious RDP Wds StartupPrograms Persistence Modification (via registry_set)
- Product
- windows
- Category
- registry_set
- Author
- HuntRule
- Published
- 2026-05-14
- Updated
- 2026-08-28
ATT&CK techniques
Persistence → Priv EscRecon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact
What it detects
This rule detects modification of the Terminal Server rdpwd StartupPrograms value which lists programs launched when a Remote Desktop session starts. Adversaries append their payload to this value to persist and execute code on incoming RDP logons.
Reporting behind it
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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