Detectors
Every Cortex detection rule the toolbox knows about — analytics alerts, BIOCs and correlation rules — in one filterable set.
109 detectors match the current filters. tactic: TA0005 ✕
Download CSV| Type | Name | Severity | Module | Data source / event | ATT&CK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BIOC | Accessing bash history file Clearing bash history file is a known procedure of attackers to delete traces. | Low | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Accessing bash history file using bash commands Clearing bash history files is a known attacker procedure for covering their tracks. | Low | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Administrator obtains access rights to a file using icacls.exe Grant an administrator file access privileges. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | AMSI Bypass AMSI (Antimalware Scan Interface) provides enhanced malware protection on Windows 10 machines. Attackers may try to bypass this mechanism and run malicious code. | Medium | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Base64 decoding using the base64 utility Base64 decoding using the base64 utility with the -d argument provided. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Bitsadmin.exe used to upload data Some attacks are known to abuse BITSAdmin to hide how data upload using legitimate Windows tools. | High | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Exfiltration, Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Browser downloads an .hta or .application file .hta and .application files are Windows applications that may serve as an attack vector by executing code maliciously using trusted Windows applications. | Informational | Platform Analytics | File | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Changing permissions or ownership of a file or folder Changing the permissions or ownership of a file or folder can be done to get access to sensitive data. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Chrome launched in Incognito mode May be used to cover up malware or malicious insider activity. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Clear event logging policy using auditpol.exe Attackers may clear Windows Event Logging policies using auditpol.exe. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Clear logs - using dd and /dev/null Usage of the dd utility to clear the contents of a file using /dev/null. | Medium | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Clearing logs by copying /dev/null to a log file Usage of the cp command to copy /dev/null to a file and clear its content. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Clearing logs by executing cat /dev/null Usage of cat /dev/null to clear the contents of a log file. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Common Apple process name missing Apple digital signature These common Apple process names should normally be signed with the Apple Inc. digital signature. Naming processes with common names is a common way attackers obfuscate their activities. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Common Mozilla process name missing Mozilla digital certificate These common Mozilla process names should normally be signed with the Mozilla Corporation digital signature. Naming processes with common names is a common way attackers obfuscate their activities. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Commonly abused process executed with obfuscated characters Commonly abused process executed with obfuscated characters. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Commonly abused process spawns out of rundll32.exe This type of execution happens in .dll based attacks. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Compiled HTML (help file) makes network connections Compiled HTML (help files) should not normally need to connect to the network. This may have limited legitimate uses, yet this behavior is often observed by malware leveraging malicious CHM files to deliver a 2nd stage payload. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Network | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Compiler process started by an Office process The processes (csc.exe & vbc.exe) invoke compilers via command prompt and compile a payload on the fly. This is leveraged by attackers to create a new payload on every machine. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Data destruction using sdelete.exe Attackers may use sdelete.exe to delete files from the target host. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion, Impact |
| BIOC | Delete Volume USN Journal with fsutil This technique is used by attackers to eliminate evidence of files created during post-exploitation activities. | Medium | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Disable outlook security via Registry Attackers may try to disable outlook security features by modifying the Registry. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Registry | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Disabling Windows Defender via Registry Windows Defender stores its configuration in the Registry. By modifying these values, an attacker can disable security features. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Registry | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | DLL sideloading attack using Xwizard Xwizard has a known DLL-sideloading vulnerability, which involves moving the legitimate Xwizard.exe file into a new directory along with a malicious Xwizard.dll file. This is a possible indicator of an attacker preparing to execute a DLL-sideloading attack. | Low | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Driver written to a temporary directory Drivers are highly unlikely to be written or moved to a temp directory. Check whether this driver is legitimate. | Informational | Platform Analytics | File | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Encoded VBScript executed Attackers tend to hide their malicious behavior in many ways, one of which is obfuscating their code via encoding. | High | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Execution, Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Evasion using time-based properties Attackers may check Event Log to evade virtualized environments. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion, Discovery |
| BIOC | EventLog service disabled by a Registry operation A Registry set-value operation that disables the EventLog service was executed on the machine. | High | Platform Analytics | Registry | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Execution of commonly abused AutoIT script AutoIT scripts have legitimate uses, but are often abused by malware to execute in a signed process context. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Execution of regsvcs/regasm with uncommon paths The regasm.exe/regsvcs.exe commands are used to register .NET COM assemblies, which are typically located in specific paths. Uncommon paths may indicate malicious code is being registered. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Execution of WSL Distro Detecting a new instance execution of Windows Subsystem for Linux distro. | Informational | Platform Analytics | File | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | File renamed to have a script extension Adversaries may create 'benign-looking' files, which are later used as malicious scripts by changing their extension. | Informational | Platform Analytics | File | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | File timestamp tampering An attacker may modify file timestamps by running the touch command to hide their activities. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Fltmc.exe used to unload filter driver Attackers can abuse the Filter Manager Control Program (fltMC.exe) to unload MiniFilter drivers, some of which may be used for activity monitoring. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Hidden directory creation Attackers may create hidden directories to hide malware or staged files. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Hidden file and directory creation Creation of a hidden file inside a hidden directory. | Informational | Platform Analytics | File | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Impersonation using Rubeus tool User authentication should not be impersonated, since this is considered a malicious behavior. | Medium | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Injection into ping.exe A process injected into an instance of ping.exe. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Remote code | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Internet Explorer security settings modification The Security Settings Check feature, which checks Internet Explorer security settings to determine risk, was disabled. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Registry | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | ISO mounted manually A user manually mounted an ISO file. | Informational | Platform Analytics | File | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Kerberos ticket forging using Impacket ticketer Suspected execution of Impacket's ticketer.py script for forging TGT/TGS Kerberos tickets. | Medium | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion, Privilege Escalation |
| BIOC | Log deletion in known log file directories Deletion of log files in known log directories. | Informational | Platform Analytics | File | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Log deletion using the truncate command Usage of the truncate utility using "-s 0" argument to clear log files. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Log deletion via command-line tool An attacker may use the rm command to remove traces of their activities. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | MacOS firewall manipulation An attacker may modify a firewall via command line to bypass network controls. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Manipulation of Crypto Subject Interface Package (SIP) Provider Malicious modification of crypto subject interface package (SIP) provider Registry keys can be leveraged to trick the OS into incorrectly validating invalid signing certificates. May have legitimate uses, but check for malicious activity. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Registry | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Manipulation of Windows Defender configuration Commands used to bypass, disable or harm Windows Defender. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Manipulation of Windows Event Log auto-backup via Registry This key enables/disables the automatic backups of event logs when they are full. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Registry | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Microsoft Connection Manager Profile Installer loads a file from the users to temporary folder The Microsoft Connection Manager Profile Installer (CMSTP.exe) is a command-line program used to install Connection Manager service profiles. CMSTP.exe may be abused to load and execute DLLs and/or COM scriptlets (SCT) from remote servers. This execution may also bypass AppLocker and other whitelisting defenses since CMSTP.exe is a legitimate, signed Microsoft application. | Low | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Microsoft Connection Manager Profile Installer makes connections to the network The Microsoft Connection Manager Profile Installer (CMSTP.exe) is a command-line program used to install Connection Manager service profiles. CMSTP.exe may be abused to load and execute DLLs and/or COM scriptlets (SCT) from remote servers. This execution may also bypass AppLocker and other whitelisting defenses since CMSTP.exe is a legitimate, signed Microsoft application. | Low | Platform Analytics | Network | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Microsoft Connection Manager Profile Installer runs command line or PowerShell The Microsoft Connection Manager Profile Installer (CMSTP.exe) is a command-line program used to install Connection Manager service profiles. CMSTP.exe may be abused to load and execute DLLs and/or COM scriptlets (SCT) from remote servers. This execution may also bypass AppLocker and other whitelisting defenses since CMSTP.exe is a legitimate, signed Microsoft application. | Low | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Microsoft HTML Application Host spawns from CMD or PowerShell Microsoft HTML Application Host is a program whose source code consists of HTML, Dynamic HTML and a few scripting languages compatible with Internet Explorer such as VBScript or JScript. It does not typically spawn from PowerShell or CMD. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Microsoft HTML Application Host spawns from Explorer.exe Mshta allows execution of .hta files, an attacker can use mshta to execute malicious hta files on the victim's host. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Modification of Windows boot configuration using bcdedit.exe BCDEdit is a Microsoft Windows utility that can modify boot parameters. It is usually used as part of an attack to prevent repair of the affected system by disabling booting in recovery mode. It can also be used to stop Windows' Patchguard from objecting to the unsigned and insecure nature of a driver being loaded. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion, Impact |
| BIOC | MSBuild execution Attackers may use MSBuild.exe to proxy execution of code through a trusted Windows utility. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Netsh.exe modifies allowed firewall port/program lists Malware will often modify local firewall settings to permit untrusted software to communicate with the Internet for C2. Check for malicious use. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | New certificate added to the trusted root store Untrusted certificates could be used to install untrusted drivers and malicious code. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Notepad process makes a network connection Notepad.exe processes should not normally make network connections (with the occasional exception of printing documents). This can be a possible indicator of exploitation, e.g. Metasploit Meterpreter injection. | Low | Platform Analytics | Network | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Permissive file privileges were granted Setting readable, writable, and executable permissions for all users may pose a major security risk. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Ping executed with loopback address This seemingly strange "wait" mechanism is often used by malware to stall command execution. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Ping to a known external IP address Pinging a known external IP address is often used by malware to check internet connectivity. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Possible log destruction using the dd command Possible destruction of system log files using the dd command. | Informational | Platform Analytics | File | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | PowerShell is used to execute a CPL file Attackers may use PowerShell.exe to execute a CPL file to achieve Control Panel proxy execution. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | PowerShell is used to modify a timestamp Attackers may use PowerShell.exe to modify the timestamp of a file. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Process attempts to kill a known security/AV tool This process has attempted to use taskkill.exe to terminate a known AV process or security analysis tool. Likely attempt to evade detection. | Medium | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Process runs from the recycle bin Process running from the recycle bin. | Low | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Pubprn.vbs signed script proxy execution Pubprn.vbs is a standard script that is installed with Windows that can be abused to run malicious scripts. This behavior may bypass signature validation restrictions and application whitelisting solutions. | High | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Regsvr32 may have run code from an untrusted source Regsvr32 may be used to run arbitrary code by passing the '/i' parameter. The code may also be hosted on a remote host. | High | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Root certificate installed Installation of a root certificate on a compromised system would give an adversary a way to degrade the security of that system. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Registry | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Root certificate installed Installation of a root certificate on a compromised system would give an adversary a way to degrade the security of that system. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Rundll32 loads a known abused DLL Rundll32.exe is called to execute an arbitrary binary, this execution may also bypass whitelisting defenses as a signed Microsoft application. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Rundll32.exe launches an executable using ordinal numbers argument Rundll32.exe launches an executable using ordinal numbers argument, this behavior may be used by attackers to evade detection. | Medium | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Rundll32.exe was used to run JavaScript Attackers may execute malicious JavaScript code (either remotely or locally) using rundll32.exe. | Medium | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Rundll32.exe with 'main' as EntryPoint Rundll32.exe ran with 'main' as EntryPoint. Attackers may leverage rundll32.exe to execute malicious functions and DLLs. | Medium | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Scripting engine creates an Alternate Data Stream (ADS) Malware may hide data inside alternate data streams instead of inside a file. | Informational | Platform Analytics | File | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Security services stopped Attackers may stop security critical services to avoid possible detection of their activities. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | SELinux was set to permissive mode SELinux was set to permissive mode using the "setenforce 0" command. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Shell binary copied to another location Attackers may try to evade detection by copying the shell binary to an innocent-looking name. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | SmartScreen disabled via Registry These Registry keys control the SmartScreen. Malware may turn it off to evade SmartScreen functionality. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Registry | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Space after filename creation An attacker may append a space to the end of a filename to change how it's processed by the operating system. | Informational | Platform Analytics | File | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Suspicious .NET process spawns csc.exe A suspicious process in the Microsoft .NET directory spawned the C# compiler. This may occur if an attacker masquerades a process like MSBuild (e.g. PowerLessShell). | Low | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Suspicious AMSI DLL load location An attacker may attempt to load a malicious copy of amsi.dll to bypass Microsoft's Antimalware Scan Interface (AMSI). | Low | Platform Analytics | Module | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Suspicious DLL load using Control.exe This execution mechanism is known to be used by malware to load malicious DLLs. | Medium | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Suspicious executable created in a .NET directory Cmd.exe created an executable file in the Microsoft .NET directory. This behavior is exhibited in the PowerLessShell tool to disguise MSBuild.exe. | High | Platform Analytics | File | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Suspicious process spawns MSBuild.exe The Microsoft Build Engine was started by an abnormal process. MSBuild is normally used for development purposes, so this unusual behavior may be malicious. | Medium | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Suspicious usage of cytool.exe The Cortex XDR agent can be controlled by a command-line tool named cytool.exe. Attackers may use it to disable the Cortex XDR agent. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | SyncAppvPublishingServer used to run PowerShell code SyncAppvPublishingServer is part of Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V), which may be used by an attacker to run PowerShell code. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Tampering with the Windows System Restore configuration System Restore was disabled on the endpoint. In such a case, one may not be able to recover files in case of disaster. This may be initiated by the IT department, but also may indicate malicious activity such as ransomware. | Low | Platform Analytics | Registry | Defense Evasion, Impact |
| BIOC | Tampering with Windows certificate blocking configuration Adding subkeys of the certificates to block disallows a security vendor's certificate on the affected computer, so that Windows would not allow the program to run. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Registry | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Tampering with Windows Control Panel configuration DLLs with .cpl suffix are executed when accessing the Control Panel. Malicious code may run this way even if AppLocker enabled. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Registry | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | The scripting engine executed code from an Alternate Data Stream (ADS) Alternate Data Streams (ADSs) are NTFS Master File Table (MFT) data entries that relate to a file, but are separate from its contents. An attacker may try to evade detection by executing malware from the ADS value of a file. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Unsigned process creates an Alternate Data Stream (ADS) Alternate Data Streams (ADSs) are NTFS Master File Table (MFT) data entries that relate to a file, but are separate from its contents. Malware may attempt to evade discovery by placing their payload in an ADS. | Informational | Platform Analytics | File | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Unsigned process injects code into a process An unsigned process injected code into a process. This can be done to leverage a legitimate running process for an attack. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Remote code | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Unsigned process running from a temporary directory Malware often runs from a temporary folder. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Usage of tracing tool An attacker may be trying to use a known tracing tool to gather information from other processes. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | User account flagged as hidden Look for unsigned processes that add an entry to the hidden users Registry key. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Registry | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | WerFault ReflectDebugger key set in Registry The WerFault.exe signed Windows process may be tricked into running a malicious executable by setting the ReflectDebugger key in the Registry. | Medium | Platform Analytics | Registry | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Windows 10 Developer Mode enabled Enabling developer mode allows for app sideloading and starts the Windows SSH services, which may be used to install Linux Bash on Windows. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Registry | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Windows event logs cleared using wmic.exe Attackers may clear events from Windows event logs to remove traces of their malicious activity. | Medium | Platform Analytics | Process execution | Defense Evasion |
| BIOC | Windows Firewall disabled via Registry An attacker may disable the Windows Firewall via the Registry to bypass network controls. | Informational | Platform Analytics | Registry | Defense Evasion |