Suspicious DLL Sideloading via EngineX Executable

ATT&CK techniques

Execution → Defense Evasion

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
- T1574.001DLL
Persistence
- T1574.001DLL
Priv Esc
- T1574.001DLL
Defense Evasion
- T1574.001DLL
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects the DeerStealer loader executable side-loading its malicious companion DLL, a DLL search-order hijacking technique that runs attacker code under a benign-looking process. Loading cmdres.dll from the EngineX host binary is characteristic of the DeerStealer execution chain and indicates active compromise.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1574.001 — drag to rearrange

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Suspicious DLL Sideloading via EngineX Executable

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.

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