Suspicious Scheduled Task Creation Running DLL from ProgramData

ATT&CK techniques

Execution → Defense Evasion

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
- T1053.005Scheduled Task
Persistence
- T1053.005Scheduled Task
Priv Esc
- T1053.005Scheduled Task
Defense Evasion
- T1218.011Rundll32
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects schtasks.exe creating a scheduled task whose action invokes rundll32 against a DLL located in ProgramData, matching the persistence mechanism of the WARMCOOKIE backdoor. Adversaries register such tasks so the loader runs automatically after reboot or logon.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1218.011 — drag to rearrange

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Suspicious Scheduled Task Running rundll32 DllRegisterServer Every Minute

Suspicious Scheduled Task Creation Referencing dllFake Batch Scripts (via process_creation)

Suspicious Rundll32 Loading DLL From Public or ProgramData Path via Process Creation (via process_creation)

Malicious LSASS Credential Dump via Rundll32 Comsvcs MiniDump via Process Creation (via process_creation)

Suspicious Rundll32 Execution Without a DLL Reference via Process Creation (via process_creation)

Suspicious Scheduled Task Creation Running DLL from ProgramData

Pivot detection · T1218.011 · 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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