Windows: Detect Fodhelper.exe spawned processes indicative of UAC bypass

Flags process creation where the parent is Fodhelper.exe, a common UAC bypass execution pattern on Windows.

FreeReviewedSigma · High · v1

Product: windows
Category: process_creation
Author: E.M. Anhaus (originally from Atomic Blue Detections, Tony Lambert), oscd.community (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published: 2019-10-24
Updated: 2026-07-30

ATT&CK techniques

Priv Esc → Defense Evasion

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
- T1548.002Bypass User Account Control
Defense Evasion
- T1548.002Bypass User Account Control
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule identifies process executions where the parent image ends with \"\fodhelper.exe\". It matters because using Fodhelper.exe in this manner can be part of an attempt to bypass User Account Control and run commands with elevated privileges. Telemetry relies on Windows process creation records that include ParentImage.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1548.002 — drag to rearrange

Malicious FodHelper UAC Bypass via ms-settings Shell Command Hijack (via registry_set)

Suspicious Banana RAT UAC Skip Environment Variable in PowerShell

Malicious UAC Bypass via sdclt Handler Hijack (via registry_set)

Malicious UAC Bypass via ms-settings Handler Hijack (via registry_set)

Malicious DBatLoader DLL Sideloading via easinvoker.exe Loading netutils.dll (via image_load)

Suspicious dllhost.exe Spawned with CLSID and Anomalous Parent (via process_creation)

Malicious ms-settings DelegateExecute UAC Bypass Registry Change

Malicious User Account Control Bypass via Auto-Elevating Binary Hijack (via process_creation)

Suspicious Mock Trusted Directory with Trailing Space (via process_creation)

Windows: Detect Fodhelper.exe spawned processes indicative of UAC bypass

Pivot detection · T1548.002 · 9 related

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

windows-detect-fodhelper-exe-spawned-processes-indicative-of-uac-bypass-7f741dcf

title: "Windows: Detect Fodhelper.exe spawned processes indicative of UAC bypass"
id: 5b1cdd26-1970-4b41-83dc-a3b7282c9519
status: test
description: This rule identifies process executions where the parent image ends with \"\fodhelper.exe\". It matters because using Fodhelper.exe in this manner can be part of an attempt to bypass User Account Control and run commands with elevated privileges. Telemetry relies on Windows process creation records that include ParentImage.
references:
  - https://eqllib.readthedocs.io/en/latest/analytics/e491ce22-792f-11e9-8f5c-d46d6d62a49e.html
  - https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/f339e7da7d05f6057fdfcdd3742bfcf365fee2a9/atomics/T1548.002/T1548.002.md
  - https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_uac_bypass_fodhelper.yml
author: E.M. Anhaus (originally from Atomic Blue Detections, Tony Lambert), oscd.community, Huntrule Team
date: 2019-10-24
modified: 2021-11-27
tags:
  - attack.privilege-escalation
  - attack.t1548.002
logsource:
  category: process_creation
  product: windows
detection:
  selection:
    ParentImage|endswith: \fodhelper.exe
  condition: selection
falsepositives:
  - Legitimate use of fodhelper.exe utility by legitimate user
level: high
license: DRL-1.1
related:
  - id: 7f741dcf-fc22-4759-87b4-9ae8376676a2
    type: derived

Convert

This rule as a query you can run. Uses no unlock credit.

SplunkSPL