T1546.010sub-technique of T1546 Event Triggered Execution

AppInit DLLs

Windowsnothing on this site yetT1546.010 on attack.mitre.org

Adversaries may establish persistence and/or elevate privileges by executing malicious content triggered by AppInit DLLs loaded into processes. Dynamic-link libraries (DLLs) that are specified in the `AppInit_DLLs` value in the Registry keys `HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows` or `HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows` are loaded by user32.dll into every process that loads...
MITRE ATT&CK 19.2, retrieved 2026-09-12

If this is happening now

Checklists and playbooks to open while the alert is still live.

Playbook for this stage

Suspicious execution on an endpoint

An EDR alert, an unexplained process, or a user reporting something odd.

Playbook for this stage

Cloud account compromise

Impossible travel, an unrecognised inbox rule, or a reported invoice-fraud attempt.

how MITRE says to see it

Detection Strategy for Event Triggered Execution: AppInit DLLs (Windows)

Registry key modification to AppInit_DLLs value followed by anomalous DLL loading by processes importing user32.dll, especially unsigned or uncommon DLLs, suggesting unauthorized AppInit persistence or privilege escalation.

what reduces it

M1038 Execution Prevention. Adversaries can install new AppInit DLLs binaries to execute this technique. Identify and block potentially malicious software executed through AppInit DLLs functionality by using application control tools, like Windows Defender Application Control, AppLocker, or Software Restriction Policies where appropriate.
M1051 Update Software. Upgrade to Windows 8 or later and enable secure boot.

the rest of T1546

T1546.001 Change Default File Association · not covered yet
T1546.002 Screensaver · not covered yet
T1546.003 Windows Management Instrumentation Event Subscription · 5 on this site
T1546.004 Unix Shell Configuration Modification · not covered yet
T1546.005 Trap · not covered yet
T1546.006 LC_LOAD_DYLIB Addition · not covered yet
T1546.007 Netsh Helper DLL · not covered yet
T1546.008 Accessibility Features · not covered yet
T1546.009 AppCert DLLs · not covered yet
T1546.011 Application Shimming · not covered yet
T1546.012 Image File Execution Options Injection · not covered yet
T1546.013 PowerShell Profile · not covered yet
T1546.014 Emond · not covered yet
T1546.015 Component Object Model Hijacking · not covered yet
T1546.016 Installer Packages · not covered yet
T1546.017 Udev Rules · not covered yet
T1546.018 Python Startup Hooks · not covered yet

The description, detection analytics and mitigations are reproduced from MITRE ATT&CK, version 19.2, under its terms of use. The checklists, hunts, labs and everything else linked here are this site’s.