> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://cortex-docs.paloaltonetworks.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://cortex-docs.paloaltonetworks.com/analytics-alerts/alerts-by-name/office-process-accessed-an-unusual-lnk-file.md).

# Office process accessed an unusual .LNK file

### Synopsis

| Field                | Value                                                                                        |
| -------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Activation Period    | 14 Days                                                                                      |
| Training Period      | 30 Days                                                                                      |
| Test Period          | N/A (single event)                                                                           |
| Deduplication Period | 7 Days                                                                                       |
| Required Data        | XDR Agent with eXtended Threat Hunting (XTH)                                                 |
| ATT\&CK Tactic       | Execution (TA0002), Persistence (TA0003)                                                     |
| ATT\&CK Technique    | User Execution (T1204), Boot or Logon Autostart Execution: Shortcut Modification (T1547.009) |
| Severity             | Low                                                                                          |

### Description

An attacker may embed a .LNK file in an Office document to execute malicious code.

### Attacker's Goals

Modify or create a shortcut to gain code or program execution.

### Investigative actions

* Check if the Office document contains a shortcut object.
* Check the content (strings) of the document object for a .LNK shortcut.
* Check the content of the shortcut.


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