MITRE ATT&CK Technique
Persistence T1182
Description

Dynamic-link libraries (DLLs) that are specified in the AppCertDLLs Registry key under <code>HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager</code> are loaded into every process that calls the ubiquitously used application programming interface (API) functions CreateProcess, CreateProcessAsUser, CreateProcessWithLoginW, CreateProcessWithTokenW, or WinExec. (Citation: Elastic Process Injection July 2017) Similar to [Process Injection](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1055), this value can be abused to obtain persistence and privilege escalation by causing a malicious DLL to be loaded and run in the context of separate processes on the computer.

Supported Platforms
Windows
Created

April 29, 2026

Last Updated

April 29, 2026

STIX Data
{'created': '2018-01-16T16:13:52.465Z',
 'created_by_ref': 'identity--c78cb6e5-0c4b-4611-8297-d1b8b55e40b5',
 'description': 'Dynamic-link libraries (DLLs) that are specified in the '
                'AppCertDLLs Registry key under '
                '<code>HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\System\\CurrentControlSet\\Control\\Session '
                'Manager</code> are loaded into every process that calls the '
                'ubiquitously used application programming interface (API) '
                'functions CreateProcess, CreateProcessAsUser, '
                'CreateProcessWithLoginW, CreateProcessWithTokenW, or WinExec. '
                '(Citation: Elastic Process Injection July 2017)\n'
                '\n'
                'Similar to [Process '
                'Injection](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1055), this '
                'value can be abused to obtain persistence and privilege '
                'escalation by causing a malicious DLL to be loaded and run in '
                'the context of separate processes on the computer.',
 'external_references': [{'external_id': 'T1182',
                          'source_name': 'mitre-attack',
                          'url': 'https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1182'},
                         {'description': 'Hosseini, A. (2017, July 18). Ten '
                                         'Process Injection Techniques: A '
                                         'Technical Survey Of Common And '
                                         'Trending Process Injection '
                                         'Techniques. Retrieved December 7, '
                                         '2017.',
                          'source_name': 'Elastic Process Injection July 2017',
                          'url': 'https://www.endgame.com/blog/technical-blog/ten-process-injection-techniques-technical-survey-common-and-trending-process'},
                         {'description': 'Russinovich, M. (2016, January 4). '
                                         'Autoruns for Windows v13.51. '
                                         'Retrieved June 6, 2016.',
                          'source_name': 'TechNet Autoruns',
                          'url': 'https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902'},
                         {'description': 'Microsoft. (2007, October 24). '
                                         'Windows Sysinternals - AppCertDlls. '
                                         'Retrieved December 18, 2017.',
                          'source_name': 'Sysinternals AppCertDlls Oct 2007',
                          'url': 'https://forum.sysinternals.com/appcertdlls_topic12546.html'}],
 'id': 'attack-pattern--4bf5845d-a814-4490-bc5c-ccdee6043025',
 'kill_chain_phases': [{'kill_chain_name': 'mitre-attack',
                        'phase_name': 'persistence'},
                       {'kill_chain_name': 'mitre-attack',
                        'phase_name': 'privilege-escalation'}],
 'modified': '2025-10-24T17:48:44.956Z',
 'name': 'AppCert DLLs',
 'object_marking_refs': ['marking-definition--fa42a846-8d90-4e51-bc29-71d5b4802168'],
 'revoked': True,
 'spec_version': '2.1',
 'type': 'attack-pattern',
 'x_mitre_attack_spec_version': '3.2.0',
 'x_mitre_deprecated': False,
 'x_mitre_detection': '',
 'x_mitre_domains': ['enterprise-attack'],
 'x_mitre_is_subtechnique': False,
 'x_mitre_modified_by_ref': 'identity--c78cb6e5-0c4b-4611-8297-d1b8b55e40b5',
 'x_mitre_platforms': ['Windows'],
 'x_mitre_version': '1.1'}
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