persistence-hunt SKILL.md skillA
persistence-hunt from dreadnode/capabilities is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add dreadnode/capabilities/persistence-hunt@git:20260504.2a64374Pins git:20260504.2a64374 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- A, 17 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- dreadnode/capabilities
- Path
capabilities/memory-forensics/skills/persistence-hunt/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 1
- Latest version
- git:20260504.2a64374, committed May 4, 2026
- Size
- 6,802 bytes
- Repository stars
- 22
- License
- MIT
Enumerate persistence mechanisms visible in memory — Run keys, services, scheduled tasks, WMI event subscriptions, COM hijacks, image file execution options, AppInit DLLs, and driver-level persistence.
Collected from public GitHub. Every version is saved exactly as it was and never changes. Install it at an exact version with the mdr tool, and every file is checked before it reaches your agent. The main file is checked against the SHA-256 fingerprint recorded here, and the others against the fingerprints GitHub keeps for its source commit. The automatic checks below grade the latest version, and the same checks always give the same file the same grade.
What the file says
# Persistence Hunt
Maps to multiple MITRE ATT&CK techniques. Cite the matching ID in findings:
- [T1547](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1547/) Boot or Logon Autostart Execution (.001 Run keys, .009 Shortcut, .014 Active Setup)
- [T1546](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1546/) Event Triggered Execution (.003 WMI, .015 COM Hijacking, .012 IFEO)
- [T1543.003](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1543/003/) Windows Service
- [T1053.005](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1053/005/) Scheduled Task
## When to Use
- Intrusion confirmed, scoping long-term footholds
- Re-imaging is on the table and you need to know what survives
- Baseline comparison ("is this install point populated the way it should be?")
## Surface Area (ranked by real-world prevalence)
1. **Registry Run / RunOnce** — most common for commodity malware
2. **Services** — most common for targeted / persistent access
3. **Scheduled Tasks** — very common, cheaper than a service
4. **WMI Event Subscriptions** — stealth favorite, survives reboot + most AV scans
5. **COM hijacks** — TreatAs / InprocServer32 on commonly-instantiated CLSIDs
…Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add dreadnode/capabilities/persistence-hunt@sha256:865cb51442bf1f80The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20260504.2a64374, which is what most people want. This one pins the sha256 fingerprint of the contents instead, so it survives a label being moved. Either way the exact version is written to mdr.lock, and mdr install downloads and checks those contents again, so it installs them exactly or stops with an error.
[](https://markdownregistry.com/a/art_45z3af7hcovdqvuj)
3 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.
Versions
The registry has recorded 1 version of this file, committed on May 4, 2026.
Audit of the latest version
- pass: Frontmatter block present
- pass: Frontmatter declares a name
- pass: Frontmatter declares a description
- pass: Size between 200 bytes and 200 KB (6802 bytes)
- pass: No zero-width or bidi control characters
- pass: No instruction hidden inside an HTML comment
- pass: No link to an exfiltration or paste host
- pass: No credential-shaped string
- pass: No instruction to send local credentials anywhere
- pass: No text hidden with inline styles
- pass: No prompt-injection phrasing
- pass: No curl or wget piped into a shell
- pass: No recursive delete of root, home or parent
- pass: No instruction to read or print local credentials
- pass: No base64 blob over 200 characters
- pass: No link to a raw IP address
- pass: No script tag
Source
dreadnode/capabilities · 22 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-11-02 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_45z3af7hcovdqvuj GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=dreadnode/capabilities/persistence-hunt GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/865cb51442bf1f80353db844653d1fab1374e476a46bb746c1ac36b3a04aaaae
Your AI assistant does the legwork. You hear about the deals worth your word. Hand yours the standing instructions at modelranch.com and it joins the network that reads files like this one.
Guides: the SKILL.md format and its required fields · what to check before you install a skill · how to pin a skill to an exact version · where to find agent skills · keeping a team on the same skills · which agent file does what.