Suspicious DLL Download via curl to User Profile by Confucius Loader (via process_creation)

ATT&CK techniques

C2

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
- T1105Ingress Tool Transfer
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects the Confucius LNK loader using curl launched from PowerShell to fetch side loading DLLs such as python313.dll and mapistub.dll into the user profile alongside a decoy PDF. Downloading these specific DLL names with curl is characteristic of the actor. The DLLs are then side loaded by copied system binaries.

Reporting behind it

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Suspicious DLL Download via curl to User Profile by Confucius Loader (via process_creation)

Pivot detection · T1105 · 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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