Hunt Inflated File Payload Evading Size Based Av Scan

// Author: Ian D. Hanley (DevSecOpsDad) | linkedin.com/in/ianhanley | devsecopsdad.com | devsecopsdadattack.com
// Hunts for file downloads that are anomalously large for their kind — Vidar's second costume
// where the payload is padded with null bytes to slip past AV scanners that skip files above a
// size ceiling. Ranks downloads whose size:entropy ratio suggests inflation.
// Source: KQL Detection of the Week: Nice Costume, Wrong Address (2026-07-13) — https://devsecopsdadattack.com/2026-07-13-KQL-Detection-of-the-Week_-Nice-Costume_-Wrong-Address/

DeviceFileEvents
| where Timestamp > ago(7d)
| where ActionType in ("FileCreated", "FileModified")
| where FileName endswith ".exe" or FileName endswith ".dll"
| where isnotnull(FileSize) and FileSize > 52428800
| where not (
    InitiatingProcessFileName has_any (
        "msiexec.exe", "setup.exe", "install.exe", "winget.exe",
        "MicrosoftEdgeUpdate.exe", "WindowsUpdateBox.exe",
        "wuauclt.exe", "TiWorker.exe", "TrustedInstaller.exe"
    )
)
| where not (
    FolderPath startswith @"C:\Windows\"
    or FolderPath startswith @"C:\Program Files\"
    or FolderPath startswith @"C:\Program Files (x86)\"
)
| extend HighRiskPath = (
    FolderPath has_any ("AppData", "Temp", "Downloads", "Desktop", "Public")
)
| project
    Timestamp,
    DeviceName,
    DeviceId,
    FileName,
    FolderPath,
    FileSize,
    SHA256,
    InitiatingProcessFileName,
    InitiatingProcessFolderPath,
    InitiatingProcessCommandLine,
    InitiatingProcessSHA256,
    HighRiskPath
| order by FileSize desc