Unusual Windows Path Activity
Identifies processes started from atypical folders in the file system, which might indicate malware execution or persistence mechanisms. In corporate Windows environments, software installation is centrally managed…
Description
Identifies processes started from atypical folders in the file system, which might indicate malware execution or persistence mechanisms. In corporate Windows environments, software installation is centrally managed and it is unusual for programs to be executed from user or temporary directories. Processes executed from these locations can denote that a user downloaded software directly from the Internet or a malicious script or macro executed malware.
Detection logic
Its licence does not clear it for publishing here
Sunturai publishes a detection's own text where the licence it arrived under has been reviewed and permits it, and Elastic License 2.0 has not. The query as its source wrote it, its canonical form and the hash that pins this revision are in the workspace record.
Detection requirements
- Platform
- ContainersIaaSLinuxmacOSWindows
The rule states no platform. This is derived from the 2 ATT&CK techniques it maps to.
Known benign triggers
- A new and unusual program or artifact download in the course of software upgrades, debugging, or troubleshooting could trigger this alert. Users downloading and running programs from unusual locations, such as temporary directories, browser caches, or profile paths could trigger this alert.
MITRE ATT&CK mappings
0 exclusive techniques.This is coverage no other published rule has; it is not this rule's total technique count.
References
| Reference | Cited by |
|---|---|
| www.elastic.co/guide/en/security/current/prebuilt-ml-jobs.html | 103 |
From the source
- At source
- Open at source
- Upstream identifier
- 445a342e-03fb-42d0-8656-0367eb2dead5
- Tagged by the source as
- Data Source: Elastic DefendData Source: Windows Security Event LogsDomain: EndpointOS: WindowsPlatform: WindowsResources: Investigation GuideRule Type: Machine LearningRule Type: MLTactic: ExecutionTactic: PersistenceUse Case: Threat Detection
Licence
- Published under
- Elastic License 2.0Read the licence
- Attribution
- Required
Authorship
- Written by
- Published
- Sep 20, 2026
- Version
- 2