Suspicious XOR Obfuscated PowerShell from ClickFix Distribution

ATT&CK techniques

Execution → Defense Evasion

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
- T1059.001PowerShell
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
- T1027Obfuscated Files or Information
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects PowerShell script content that reconstructs a payload using bitwise XOR over character and integer conversions. The ErrTraffic ClickFix framework delivers this XORed loader through fake browser fix prompts on compromised WordPress sites. Byte level XOR decoding inside a script block is a common obfuscation used to hide downloader logic.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1027 — drag to rearrange

Suspicious PowerShell Executing Code from Environment Variable (via process_creation)

Suspicious In-Memory Runspace Execution via PowerShell Script Block

Suspicious Encoded PowerShell Using Base64 Stream Decompression Routines (via process_creation)

Suspicious PowerShell In-Memory Execution with AES Decryption

Suspicious Encoded PowerShell Command Execution

Suspicious PEAKLIGHT Memory-Only PowerShell Downloader Flags (via process_creation)

Obfuscated PowerShell Script: Indirect Cmdlet Execution via ExportedCommands Array Index

Suspicious PowerShell String Concatenation Obfuscation for Batch Extension via LNK (via process_creation)

Suspicious PowerShell Spawned from PyInstaller MEI Extraction Folder (via process_creation)

Suspicious XOR Obfuscated PowerShell from ClickFix Distribution

Pivot detection · T1027 · 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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