DEF CON 34 – Gavin Zhong et al. – LaunchBreak-style multi-stage desktop takeover (LNK/URL - script - payload chain)
This rule detects potential multi-stage desktop takeover attacks by monitoring sequences of process execution within a 5-minute window. It looks for initial shell (explorer.exe or cmd.exe) spawning script-based tools (mshta.exe, wscript.exe, cscript.exe, powershell.exe, cmd.exe) with suspicious command-line arguments (extensions like .lnk, .url, .hta, or PowerShell-specific artifacts like 'IEX', 'DownloadString', or '-enc'). This is immediately followed by a secondary stage where PowerShell, cmd, or rundll32 are used to load external DLLs, register modules via regsvr32, or interact with AppData/Local/Temp directories, indicative of payload staging and execution.
Microsoft Sentinel (KQL)
