huntrule

Suspicious Linux Dynamic Linker Hijacking via LD_PRELOAD or ld.so.preload (via process_creation)

PremiumReviewedSigma · Medium · v1
Product
linux
Category
process_creation
Author
HuntRule
Published
2026-10-31
Updated
2026-10-31
AnalysisDetection

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 Linux command lines that reference the LD_PRELOAD environment variable or the /etc/ld.so.preload file to force loading of an attacker library. Malware such as Kinsing abuses this dynamic linker hijack for code injection and persistence on compromised hosts and Docker environments. Catching this reveals stealthy library injection used to hook legitimate binaries.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1574.006 — drag to rearrange
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Suspicious Dynamic Linker Hijacking via ld.so.preload Modification
Malicious Koske Userland Rootkit Installation via ld.so.preload (via file_event)
Malicious TeamTNT prochider Rootkit Deployment as Shared Object (via file_event)
Malicious perfctl Rootkit Library Drop via ld.so.preload (via file_event)
Malicious Shared Library Preload Persistence via ld.so.preload (via process_creation)
Malicious Userland Rootkit Persistence via ld.so.preload on Linux
Suspicious Bootkitty Rootkit Component Drop under opt via File System
Suspicious Linux Dynamic Linker Hijacking via LD_PRELOAD or ld.so.preload (via process_creation)
Pivot detection · T1574.006 · 9 related

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