Suspicious Renamed MonitoringHost Binary Indicating DLL Side-Loading

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 execution of the signed Microsoft MonitoringHost binary under a renamed file name, a technique used by the SADBRIDGE loader to deploy the GOSAR (Golang QUASAR) backdoor. SADBRIDGE renames MonitoringHost.exe to DevQueryBroker.exe and abuses DLL search order hijacking to side-load a malicious HealthServiceRuntime.dll. Detecting a mismatch between the original file name and the on-disk image name surfaces this masquerading and side-loading activity for triage.

Reporting behind it

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Suspicious Renamed MonitoringHost Binary Indicating DLL Side-Loading

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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