Suspicious Wscript Execution of JavaScript From AppData Local Temp via Process Creation (via process_creation)

PremiumReviewedSigma · High · v1
Product
windows
Category
process_creation
Author
HuntRule
Published
2026-07-27
Updated
2026-08-28

ATT&CK techniques

Execution
  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Initial Access

  4. Persistence

  5. Priv Esc

  6. Defense Evasion

  7. Cred Access

  8. Discovery

  9. Lateral Movement

  10. Collection

  11. C2

  12. Exfiltration

  13. Impact

What it detects

This rule detects Windows script host launching a JavaScript file from the user AppData Local Temp directory, the initial execution stage of Gootloader as emulated by Red Canary with Atomic Red Team. Gootloader delivers malicious .js payloads via SEO-poisoned downloads, and script host running such files from a temporary path is a reliable entry point for the infection chain.

Related detections9 linkedT1059.005 — drag to rearrange
Windows AppLocker Audit-Mode Events Indicate Files Would Have Been Blocked
Windows Wscript/Cscript Executes Files with Uncommon Non-Script Extensions
Windows WScript/CScript File Write With Script Extensions to Temp or Startup Paths
Windows AppLocker Blocked Application, Script, MSI, or Packaged-App Execution
Windows Process Creation: Suspicious Children Spawned by HTML Help (hh.exe)
Windows: Alert on Suspicious HH.EXE Process Execution
Windows: Koadic Command Prompt Invocation with /q /c chcp
Windows: Alert on suspicious parent process spawning csc.exe
Windows Remote Thread Creation via CACTUSTORCH Using Script/Office/Rundll Host Images
Suspicious Wscript Execution of JavaScript From AppData Local Temp via Process Creation (via process_creation)
Pivot detection · T1059.005 · 9 related

Detection content is published as a reviewed draft. Tune thresholds and exclusions against your own telemetry before enabling this rule for alerting.