An attempt was made to create a hard link
A process attempted to create an NTFS hard link between two file paths.
Event ID 4664 logs attempts to create hard links (`CreateHardLink`). Threat actors and privilege escalation exploits frequently abuse hard links on sensitive system files (such as `winlogon.exe` or spooler drivers) to trick privileged system services into overwriting arbitrary files (`Arbitrary File Write / Delete` CVEs).
Failure Reason / Root Cause:
NTFS hard link creation attempt (`LinkName` pointing to `ObjectName`).
Raw Event XML snippet
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-Security-Auditing" Guid="{54849625-5478-4994-A5BA-3E3B0328C30D}" />
<EventID>4664</EventID>
<Version>0</Version>
<Level>0</Level>
<Task>12544</Task>
<Opcode>0</Opcode>
<Keywords>0x8020000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2026-07-17T09:54:44.873Z" />
<EventRecordID>1048576</EventRecordID>
<Correlation />
<Execution ProcessID="612" ThreadID="1024" />
<Channel>Security</Channel>
<Computer>DC01.enterprise.internal</Computer>
<Security />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data Name="SubjectUserSid">S-1-5-18</Data>
<Data Name="SubjectUserName">SYSTEM</Data>
<Data Name="SubjectDomainName">NT AUTHORITY</Data>
<Data Name="SubjectLogonId">0x3e7</Data>
<!-- Event telemetry fields specific to An attempt was made to create a hard link -->
</EventData>
</Event>MITRE ATT&CK mapping
| ID | Technique | Tactic |
|---|---|---|
T1068 | Exploitation for Privilege Escalation | Privilege Escalation |
Recommended actions
- Investigate any hard link creations targeting system directories (`C:\Windows\System32`) or temporary folders (`C:\Windows\Temp`).
- Verify the user account and process creating the link.