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AppInit DLLs - T1546.010

(ATT&CK® Technique)
Definition

Adversaries may establish persistence and/or elevate privileges by executing malicious content triggered by AppInit DLLs loaded into processes. Dynamic-link libraries (DLLs) that are specified in the AppInit_DLLs value in the Registry keys HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows or HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows are loaded by user32.dll into every process that loads user32.dll. In practice this is nearly every program, since user32.dll is a very common library.
D3FEND Inferred Relationships

Browse the D3FEND knowledge graph by clicking on the nodes below.
        graph LR;

     T1546010["AppInit DLLs"] --> |invokes| CreateProcess["Create Process"]; class T1546010 OffensiveTechniqueNode;
        class CreateProcess ArtifactNode; click CreateProcess href "/dao/artifact/d3f:CreateProcess";
        click T1546010 href "/offensive-technique/attack/T1546.010/"; click CreateProcess href "/dao/artifact/d3f:CreateProcess"; T1546010["AppInit DLLs"] --> |modifies| SystemConfigurationDatabaseRecord["System Configuration Database Record"]; class T1546010 OffensiveTechniqueNode;
        class SystemConfigurationDatabaseRecord ArtifactNode; click SystemConfigurationDatabaseRecord href "/dao/artifact/d3f:SystemConfigurationDatabaseRecord";
        click T1546010 href "/offensive-technique/attack/T1546.010/"; click SystemConfigurationDatabaseRecord href "/dao/artifact/d3f:SystemConfigurationDatabaseRecord"; T1546010["AppInit DLLs"] --> |loads| SharedLibraryFile["Shared Library File"]; class T1546010 OffensiveTechniqueNode;
        class SharedLibraryFile ArtifactNode; click SharedLibraryFile href "/dao/artifact/d3f:SharedLibraryFile";
        click T1546010 href "/offensive-technique/attack/T1546.010/"; click SharedLibraryFile href "/dao/artifact/d3f:SharedLibraryFile";                                       SystemCallAnalysis["System Call Analysis"] -->
          | analyzes | CreateProcess["Create Process"];

          SystemCallAnalysis["System Call Analysis"] -.->
            | may-detect | T1546010["AppInit DLLs"] ;
          class SystemCallAnalysis DefensiveTechniqueNode;
          class CreateProcess ArtifactNode;
          click SystemCallAnalysis href "/technique/d3f:SystemCallAnalysis"; ProcessSpawnAnalysis["Process Spawn Analysis"] -->
          | analyzes | CreateProcess["Create Process"];

          ProcessSpawnAnalysis["Process Spawn Analysis"] -.->
            | may-detect | T1546010["AppInit DLLs"] ;
          class ProcessSpawnAnalysis DefensiveTechniqueNode;
          class CreateProcess ArtifactNode;
          click ProcessSpawnAnalysis href "/technique/d3f:ProcessSpawnAnalysis";                           FileIntegrityMonitoring["File Integrity Monitoring"] -->
          | analyzes | SharedLibraryFile["Shared Library File"];

          FileIntegrityMonitoring["File Integrity Monitoring"] -.->
            | may-detect | T1546010["AppInit DLLs"] ;
          class FileIntegrityMonitoring DefensiveTechniqueNode;
          class SharedLibraryFile ArtifactNode;
          click FileIntegrityMonitoring href "/technique/d3f:FileIntegrityMonitoring";              DecoyFile["Decoy File"] -->
          | spoofs | SharedLibraryFile["Shared Library File"];

          DecoyFile["Decoy File"] -.->
            | may-deceive | T1546010["AppInit DLLs"] ;
          class DecoyFile DefensiveTechniqueNode;
          class SharedLibraryFile ArtifactNode;
          click DecoyFile href "/technique/d3f:DecoyFile"; FileEviction["File Eviction"] -->
          | deletes | SharedLibraryFile["Shared Library File"];

          FileEviction["File Eviction"] -.->
            | may-evict | T1546010["AppInit DLLs"] ;
          class FileEviction DefensiveTechniqueNode;
          class SharedLibraryFile ArtifactNode;
          click FileEviction href "/technique/d3f:FileEviction";                           LocalFilePermissions["Local File Permissions"] -->
          | restricts | SharedLibraryFile["Shared Library File"];

          LocalFilePermissions["Local File Permissions"] -.->
            | may-harden | T1546010["AppInit DLLs"] ;
          class LocalFilePermissions DefensiveTechniqueNode;
          class SharedLibraryFile ArtifactNode;
          click LocalFilePermissions href "/technique/d3f:LocalFilePermissions"; FileEncryption["File Encryption"] -->
          | encrypts | SharedLibraryFile["Shared Library File"];

          FileEncryption["File Encryption"] -.->
            | may-harden | T1546010["AppInit DLLs"] ;
          class FileEncryption DefensiveTechniqueNode;
          class SharedLibraryFile ArtifactNode;
          click FileEncryption href "/technique/d3f:FileEncryption";                           ExecutableAllowlisting["Executable Allowlisting"] -->
          | restricts | CreateProcess["Create Process"];

          ExecutableAllowlisting["Executable Allowlisting"] -.->
            | may-isolate | T1546010["AppInit DLLs"] ;
          class ExecutableAllowlisting DefensiveTechniqueNode;
          class CreateProcess ArtifactNode;
          click ExecutableAllowlisting href "/technique/d3f:ExecutableAllowlisting"; Hardware-basedProcessIsolation["Hardware-based Process Isolation"] -->
          | restricts | CreateProcess["Create Process"];

          Hardware-basedProcessIsolation["Hardware-based Process Isolation"] -.->
            | may-isolate | T1546010["AppInit DLLs"] ;
          class Hardware-basedProcessIsolation DefensiveTechniqueNode;
          class CreateProcess ArtifactNode;
          click Hardware-basedProcessIsolation href "/technique/d3f:Hardware-basedProcessIsolation"; ExecutableDenylisting["Executable Denylisting"] -->
          | restricts | CreateProcess["Create Process"];

          ExecutableDenylisting["Executable Denylisting"] -.->
            | may-isolate | T1546010["AppInit DLLs"] ;
          class ExecutableDenylisting DefensiveTechniqueNode;
          class CreateProcess ArtifactNode;
          click ExecutableDenylisting href "/technique/d3f:ExecutableDenylisting";                                                    RestoreConfiguration["Restore Configuration"] -->
          | restores | SystemConfigurationDatabaseRecord["System Configuration Database Record"];

          RestoreConfiguration["Restore Configuration"] -.->
            | may-restore | T1546010["AppInit DLLs"] ;
          class RestoreConfiguration DefensiveTechniqueNode;
          class SystemConfigurationDatabaseRecord ArtifactNode;
          click RestoreConfiguration href "/technique/d3f:RestoreConfiguration"; RestoreFile["Restore File"] -->
          | restores | SharedLibraryFile["Shared Library File"];

          RestoreFile["Restore File"] -.->
            | may-restore | T1546010["AppInit DLLs"] ;
          class RestoreFile DefensiveTechniqueNode;
          class SharedLibraryFile ArtifactNode;
          click RestoreFile href "/technique/d3f:RestoreFile";                           FileAnalysis["File Analysis"] -->
          | analyzes | SharedLibraryFile["Shared Library File"];

          FileAnalysis["File Analysis"] -.->
            | may-detect | T1546010["AppInit DLLs"] ;
          class FileAnalysis DefensiveTechniqueNode;
          class SharedLibraryFile ArtifactNode;
          click FileAnalysis href "/technique/d3f:FileAnalysis";                MandatoryAccessControl["Mandatory Access Control"] -->
          | restricts | CreateProcess["Create Process"];

          MandatoryAccessControl["Mandatory Access Control"] -.->
            | may-isolate | T1546010["AppInit DLLs"] ;
          class MandatoryAccessControl DefensiveTechniqueNode;
          class CreateProcess ArtifactNode;
          click MandatoryAccessControl href "/technique/d3f:MandatoryAccessControl"; SystemCallFiltering["System Call Filtering"] -->
          | filters | CreateProcess["Create Process"];

          SystemCallFiltering["System Call Filtering"] -.->
            | may-isolate | T1546010["AppInit DLLs"] ;
          class SystemCallFiltering DefensiveTechniqueNode;
          class CreateProcess ArtifactNode;
          click SystemCallFiltering href "/technique/d3f:SystemCallFiltering";
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