Suspicious Renamed Windows Debugger CDB Execution

ATT&CK techniques

Defense Evasion

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
- T1218System Binary Proxy Execution
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects execution of the Microsoft console debugger CDB under a renamed file name, a defense evasion technique seen in the REF7707 campaign. CDB is a signed LOLBin that can launch arbitrary commands and shellcode so attackers rename it to evade name based detection. A mismatch between the original file name CDB.exe and the on-disk image name surfaces this abuse.

Reporting behind it

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Suspicious Renamed Windows Debugger CDB Execution

Pivot detection · T1218 · 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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