Malicious JanelaRAT DLL Side-Loading via nevasca.exe (via image_load)

PremiumReviewedSigma · High · v1
Product
windows
Category
image_load
Author
HuntRule
Published
2026-05-07
Updated
2026-08-28

ATT&CK techniques

Execution → Defense Evasion
  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Initial Access

  4. Execution

  5. Persistence

  6. Priv Esc

  7. Defense Evasion

  8. Cred Access

  9. Discovery

  10. Lateral Movement

  11. Collection

  12. C2

  13. Exfiltration

  14. Impact

What it detects

This rule detects the host binary nevasca.exe loading the malicious PixelPaint.dll used by JanelaRAT to hijack execution flow through DLL side-loading. JanelaRAT is a financial remote access trojan targeting users in Latin America. Detecting this loader pair exposes the in-memory execution of the RAT before command-and-control is established.

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Pivot detection · T1574.001 · 9 related

Detection content is published as a reviewed draft. Tune thresholds and exclusions against your own telemetry before enabling this rule for alerting.