Suspicious DLL Sideload of profiler16.dll (via image_load)

PremiumReviewedSigma · Medium · v1
Category
image_load
Author
HuntRule
Published
2026-10-22
Updated
2026-10-22

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 loading of profiler16.dll which was sideloaded through a renamed discord-rpc.x64.dll host binary in the WebDAV malware delivery campaign analyzed by Rapid7. Abusing a legitimately signed application to load an attacker-supplied DLL lets malicious code execute under the guise of a trusted process. Sightings of this DLL name loading into memory indicate active DLL search order hijacking.

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Suspicious DLL Sideload of profiler16.dll (via image_load)
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.