Mshta.exe launched with suspicious arguments

Synopsis

Field	Value
Activation Period	14 Days
Training Period	30 Days
Test Period	N/A (single event)
Deduplication Period	1 Day
Required Data	XDR Agent
Detector Tags	LOLBIN Execution Analytics
ATT&CK Tactic	Stealth (TA0005)
ATT&CK Technique	System Binary Proxy Execution: Mshta (T1218.005)
Severity	Low

Description

Microsoft HTML application host process has been launched with suspicious arguments, which may indicate malicious intent.

Attacker's Goals

Gain code execution on the host and evade security controls.

Investigative actions

Check whether the executing process is benign and if this was a desired behavior as part of its normal execution flow.