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DLL Side-Loading - T1073 (b2001907-166b-4d71-bb3c-9d26c871de09)

Programs may specify DLLs that are loaded at runtime. Programs that improperly or vaguely specify a required DLL may be open to a vulnerability in which an unintended DLL is loaded. Side-loading vulnerabilities specifically occur when Windows Side-by-Side (WinSxS) manifests (Citation: MSDN Manifests) are not explicit enough about characteristics of the DLL to be loaded. Adversaries may take advantage of a legitimate program that is vulnerable to side-loading to load a malicious DLL. (Citation: Stewart 2014)

Adversaries likely use this technique as a means of masking actions they perform under a legitimate, trusted system or software process.

Cluster A Galaxy A Cluster B Galaxy B Level
DLL Side-Loading - T1574.002 (e64c62cf-9cd7-4a14-94ec-cdaac43ab44b) Attack Pattern DLL Side-Loading - T1073 (b2001907-166b-4d71-bb3c-9d26c871de09) Attack Pattern 1
DLL Side-Loading - T1574.002 (e64c62cf-9cd7-4a14-94ec-cdaac43ab44b) Attack Pattern Hijack Execution Flow - T1574 (aedfca76-3b30-4866-b2aa-0f1d7fd1e4b6) Attack Pattern 2