Windows Process Creation: Uncommon Parent Process Launching link.exe

ATT&CK techniques

Defense Evasion

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
- T1218System Binary Proxy Execution
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule identifies process creations where the image ends with "link.exe" and the command line contains "LINK /", indicating use of the incremental linker. It flags cases where the parent process path is not within known Microsoft Visual Studio locations, which may indicate binary name hijacking or sideloading via an unexpected parent tool. Telemetry relies on Windows process creation events, including the child image path, command line, and parent image path.

Reporting behind it

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Windows Process Creation: Uncommon Parent Process Launching link.exe

Pivot detection · T1218 · 9 related

Changelog

v2

v2
Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
v1
No changelog recorded for this version.2026-07-30

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

windows-process-creation-uncommon-parent-process-for-link-exe-6e968eb1

title: "Windows Process Creation: Uncommon Parent Process Launching link.exe"
id: 8444a726-e274-41d4-a678-a6e020d7fa86
status: test
description: This rule identifies process creations where the image ends with "link.exe" and the command line contains "LINK /", indicating use of the incremental linker. It flags cases where the parent process path is not within known Microsoft Visual Studio locations, which may indicate binary name hijacking or sideloading via an unexpected parent tool. Telemetry relies on Windows process creation events, including the child image path, command line, and parent image path.
references:
  - https://twitter.com/0gtweet/status/1560732860935729152
  - https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_link_uncommon_parent_process.yml
author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems), Huntrule Team
date: 2022-08-22
modified: 2024-06-27
tags:
  - attack.stealth
  - attack.t1218
logsource:
  category: process_creation
  product: windows
detection:
  selection:
    Image|endswith: \link.exe
    CommandLine|contains: LINK /
  filter_main_visual_studio:
    ParentImage|startswith:
      - C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\
      - C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\
    ParentImage|contains:
      - \VC\bin\
      - \VC\Tools\
  condition: selection and not 1 of filter_main_*
falsepositives:
  - Unknown
level: medium
license: DRL-1.1
related:
  - id: 6e968eb1-5f05-4dac-94e9-fd0c5cb49fd6
    type: derived

Convert

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