Elastic Security Detection Rules

Registry Persistence via AppInit DLL

Last updated 2 months ago on 2025-03-20
Created 5 years ago on 2020-11-18

About

AppInit DLLs are dynamic-link libraries (DLLs) that are loaded into every process that creates a user interface (loads user32.dll) on Microsoft Windows operating systems. The AppInit DLL mechanism is used to load custom code into user-mode processes, allowing for the customization of the user interface and the behavior of Windows-based applications. Attackers who add those DLLs to the registry locations can execute code with elevated privileges, similar to process injection, and provide a solid and constant persistence on the machine.
Tags
Domain: EndpointOS: WindowsUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: PersistenceTactic: Defense EvasionData Source: Elastic EndgameData Source: Elastic DefendData Source: SysmonData Source: Microsoft Defender for EndpointData Source: SentinelOneLanguage: eql
Severity
medium
Risk Score
47
MITRE ATT&CK™

Persistence (TA0003)(opens in a new tab or window)

↳ Event Triggered Execution (T1546)(opens in a new tab or window)

Defense Evasion (TA0005)(opens in a new tab or window)

↳ Modify Registry (T1112)(opens in a new tab or window)

License
Elastic License v2(opens in a new tab or window)

Definition

Rule Type
Event Correlation Rule
Integration Pack
Prebuilt Security Detection Rules
Index Patterns
winlogbeat-*logs-endpoint.events.registry-*logs-windows.sysmon_operational-*endgame-*logs-m365_defender.event-*logs-sentinel_one_cloud_funnel.*
Related Integrations

endpoint(opens in a new tab or window)

windows(opens in a new tab or window)

m365_defender(opens in a new tab or window)

sentinel_one_cloud_funnel(opens in a new tab or window)

Query
registry where host.os.type == "windows" and event.type == "change" and
  registry.path : (
     "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Windows\\AppInit_Dlls",
     "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Wow6432Node\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Windows\\AppInit_Dlls",
     "\\REGISTRY\\MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Windows\\AppInit_Dlls",
     "\\REGISTRY\\MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\Wow6432Node\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Windows\\AppInit_Dlls",
     "MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Windows\\AppInit_Dlls",
     "MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\Wow6432Node\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Windows\\AppInit_Dlls"
  ) and
  not process.executable : (
     "?:\\Windows\\System32\\DriverStore\\FileRepository\\*\\Display.NvContainer\\NVDisplay.Container.exe",
     "?:\\Windows\\System32\\msiexec.exe",
     "?:\\Windows\\SysWOW64\\msiexec.exe",
     "?:\\Program Files\\Commvault\\Base\\cvd.exe",
     "?:\\Program Files\\Commvault\\ContentStore*\\Base\\cvd.exe",
     "?:\\Program Files (x86)\\Commvault\\Base\\cvd.exe",
     "?:\\Program Files (x86)\\Commvault\\ContentStore*\\Base\\cvd.exe",
     "?:\\Program Files\\NVIDIA Corporation\\Display.NvContainer\\NVDisplay.Container.exe"
  )

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect Registry Persistence via AppInit DLL in the Elastic Security detection engine by installing this rule into your Elastic Stack.

To setup this rule, check out the installation guide for Prebuilt Security Detection Rules(opens in a new tab or window).