Suspicious msimg32 DLL Hijack in AppData Templates

PremiumReviewedSigma · High · v1
Product
windows
Category
image_load
Author
HuntRule
Published
2026-08-16
Updated
2026-08-28

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 msimg32.dll being loaded from the AppData Roaming Templates directory. AdaptixC2 plants a malicious msimg32.dll in this user path to hijack the DLL search order and gain execution. A system DLL name resolving from a user profile Templates folder is a clear DLL hijack indicator.

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Suspicious msimg32 DLL Hijack in AppData Templates
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.