Suspicious AppLaunch.exe Execution as Process Hollowing Target

ATT&CK techniques

Priv Esc → Defense Evasion

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
- T1055.012Process Hollowing
Defense Evasion
- T1055.012Process Hollowing
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects the .NET ClickOnce host AppLaunch.exe running with a parent other than a legitimate development tool. Titan Stealer hollows AppLaunch.exe and injects its XOR-decoded Golang stealer into the trusted signed binary to evade detection. AppLaunch.exe spawned outside of Visual Studio or build tooling is a common injection and masquerading target.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1055.012 — drag to rearrange

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Suspicious RegAsm Execution Spawned by Script Host for Process Hollowing (via process_creation)

Suspicious .NET Utility Launched as Process Injection Target (via process_creation)

Suspicious AppLaunch.exe Execution as Process Hollowing Target

Pivot detection · T1055.012 · 9 related

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

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