Suspicious svchost.exe Execution From AppData Roaming Directory

ATT&CK techniques

Defense Evasion

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
- T1036.005Match Legitimate Resource Name or Location
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects svchost.exe running from a user AppData Roaming path instead of the System32 directory. The customized Yashma ransomware dropped a malicious svchost.exe copy into %AppData%\\Roaming to masquerade as the legitimate Windows service host. Attackers abuse this trusted name and wrong path to blend malicious execution into normal process activity and evade defenders.

Reporting behind it

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Suspicious svchost.exe Execution From AppData Roaming Directory

Pivot detection · T1036.005 · 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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