{"id":"T1546.009","name":"AppCert DLLs","url":"https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1546/009","tactics":["privilege-escalation","persistence"],"platforms":["Windows"],"live":true,"revoked":false,"deprecated":false,"revoked_by":null,"detection_strategies":[{"id":"DET0362","stix_id":"x-mitre-detection-strategy--3de93376-739e-4842-875d-d6e9948db8d4","name":"Detection Strategy for AppCert DLLs Persistence via Registry Injection","url":"https://attack.mitre.org/detectionstrategies/DET0362","analytics":[{"id":"AN1029","stix_id":"x-mitre-analytic--abe61118-51b2-45ad-93bc-9215dad25b25","name":"Analytic 1029","description":"Detection of AppCert DLL abuse involves correlating registry modifications to the AppCertDLLs key with subsequent unexpected DLL load behavior during process creation events. Specifically, defenders can observe abnormal DLLs being loaded into standard Windows processes after changes to the 'AppCertDLLs' registry value. Monitoring CreateProcess-family API executions with injected DLLs and linking those DLLs back to recent registry edits is key to identifying misuse. This is often accompanied by elevated privileges and potential lateral movement or discovery behavior.","url":"https://attack.mitre.org/detectionstrategies/DET0362#AN1029","platforms":["Windows"],"log_source_references":[{"name":"WinEventLog:Security","channel":"EventCode=4657","data_component":"DC0063","data_component_name":"Windows Registry Key Modification","log_source_slug":"wineventlog-security"},{"name":"WinEventLog:Sysmon","channel":"EventCode=1","data_component":"DC0032","data_component_name":"Process Creation","log_source_slug":"wineventlog-sysmon"},{"name":"WinEventLog:Sysmon","channel":"EventCode=7","data_component":"DC0016","data_component_name":"Module Load","log_source_slug":"wineventlog-sysmon"}],"mutable_elements":[{"field":"TargetObject","description":"Registry path for AppCertDLLs may vary by control set or group policy context"},{"field":"ImageLoaded","description":"Loaded DLLs may differ by malware family or environment"},{"field":"ParentImage","description":"Parent processes to monitor for DLL injection can be tuned to exclude known-good cases"},{"field":"TimeWindow","description":"Time correlation between registry modification and DLL load events may vary"}],"live":true,"detection_strategies":["DET0362"],"techniques":["T1546.009"]}],"live":true,"version":"1.0","techniques":["T1546.009"]}],"sigma_rules":[{"id":"046218bd-e0d8-4113-a3c3-895a12b2b298","title":"Session Manager Autorun Keys Modification","author":"Victor Sergeev, Daniil Yugoslavskiy, Gleb Sukhodolskiy, Timur Zinniatullin, oscd.community, Tim Shelton, frack113 (split)","status":"test","level":"medium","date":"2019-10-25","modified":"2023-08-17","description":"Detects modification of autostart extensibility point (ASEP) in registry.","references":["https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/f339e7da7d05f6057fdfcdd3742bfcf365fee2a9/atomics/T1547.001/T1547.001.md","https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/autoruns","https://gist.github.com/GlebSukhodolskiy/0fc5fa5f482903064b448890db1eaf9d"],"logsource":{"product":"windows","category":"registry_set"},"tags":["attack.privilege-escalation","attack.persistence","attack.t1547.001","attack.t1546.009"],"path":"rules/windows/registry/registry_set/registry_set_asep_reg_keys_modification_session_manager.yml","techniques":["T1547.001","T1546.009"],"cves":[]},{"id":"6aa1d992-5925-4e9f-a49b-845e51d1de01","title":"New DLL Added to AppCertDlls Registry Key","author":"Ilyas Ochkov, oscd.community","status":"test","level":"medium","date":"2019-10-25","modified":"2021-11-27","description":"Dynamic-link libraries (DLLs) that are specified in the AppCertDLLs value in the Registry key can be abused to obtain persistence and privilege escalation\nby causing a malicious DLL to be loaded and run in the context of separate processes on the computer.\n","references":["http://www.hexacorn.com/blog/2013/01/19/beyond-good-ol-run-key-part-3/","https://eqllib.readthedocs.io/en/latest/analytics/14f90406-10a0-4d36-a672-31cabe149f2f.html"],"logsource":{"product":"windows","category":"registry_event"},"tags":["attack.privilege-escalation","attack.persistence","attack.t1546.009"],"path":"rules/windows/registry/registry_event/registry_event_new_dll_added_to_appcertdlls_registry_key.yml","techniques":["T1546.009"],"cves":[]}],"kev_cves":[],"_built":"2026-08-24 19:45 UTC","_attack_version":"19.2","_sigma_commit":"da9bb07d642a2826e89702445d32c795209ec108"}