Hijack Execution Flow: AppDomainManager (T1574.014)

Tactics: Stealth, Execution · Platforms: Windows

The interactive view maps 1 detection strategy, 1 mitigation, 1 software entry to this technique, alongside D3FEND countermeasures and data-component coverage.

Sub-technique of Hijack Execution Flow (T1574).

Overview

Adversaries may execute their own malicious payloads by hijacking how the .NET `AppDomainManager` loads assemblies. The .NET framework uses the `AppDomainManager` class to create and manage one or more isolated runtime environments (called application domains) inside a process to host the execution of .NET applications. Assemblies (`.exe` or `.dll` binaries compiled to run as .NET code) may be loaded into an application domain as executable code.

Known as "AppDomainManager injection," adversaries may execute arbitrary code by hijacking how .NET applications load assemblies. For example, malware may create a custom application domain inside a target process to load and execute an arbitrary assembly. Alternatively, configuration files (`.config`) or process environment variables that define .NET runtime settings may be tampered with to instruct otherwise benign .NET applications to load a malicious assembly (identified by name) into the target process.

Explore

• Open T1574.014 in the interactive ATT&CK matrix
• ATT&CK Intelligence View guide
• Official MITRE ATT&CK entry for T1574.014
• Sigma detection rules for MITRE ATT&CK
• Built by Shahrukh Khan