Suspicious SearchIndexer Process Started by Non-Service Parent for Hollowing

ATT&CK techniques

Priv Esc → Defense Evasion

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
- T1055.012Process Hollowing
Defense Evasion
- T1055.012Process Hollowing
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects SearchIndexer.exe launched by a parent other than services.exe, an anomaly SolarMarker creates when hollowing the Windows search binary to host its payload. Legitimately SearchIndexer is started only by the service control manager. Detecting an unexpected parent exposes code injection into a trusted process.

Reporting behind it

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Suspicious SearchIndexer Process Started by Non-Service Parent for Hollowing

Pivot detection · T1055.012 · 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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