Malware Development Part 6: DLL hijacking

“DLL Hijacking: The Silent Killer of Your System’s Security”

Hello everyone,

Let’s talk about DLL Hijacking , What is DLL Hijacking ? DLL hijacking is a type of attack where an attacker replaces a legitimate Dynamic Link Library (DLL) file with a malicious one, allowing them to execute arbitrary code on a targeted system.

Here’s how it works:

1. Identifies a vulnerable application that loads a DLL file from a specific location.👀
2. Places a malicious DLL file with the same name as the legitimate one in that location.🕵️‍♂️🔍
3. When the application loads the DLL file, it will load the malicious one instead of the legitimate one.🔄
4. The malicious DLL file can then execute arbitrary code, allowing to gain control of the system or steal sensitive information.💥👾

In Windows systems, when an application or service initiates, it scans for several DLL files to ensure smooth operation. Below is an illustration outlining the standard DLL search sequence in Windows environments.

Our post will solely focus on the most basic scenario: when the directory of an application is writable. In such instances, any DLL that the application loads can be manipulated, as it’s the initial…