AppDomainManager

Adversaries may execute their own malicious payloads by hijacking how the .NET `AppDomainManager` loads assemblies. The .NET framework uses the `AppDomainManager` class to create and manage one or more isolated runtime environments (called application domains) inside a process to host the execution of .NET applications. Assemblies (`.exe` or `.dll` binaries compiled to run as .NET code) may be loaded into an application domain as executable code.(Citation: Microsoft App Domains) Known as "AppDomainManager injection," adversaries may execute arbitrary code by hijacking how .NET applications load assemblies. For example, malware may create a custom application domain inside a target process to load and execute an arbitrary assembly. Alternatively, configuration files (`.config`) or process environment variables that define .NET runtime settings may be tampered with to instruct otherwise benign .NET applications to load a malicious assembly (identified by name) into the target process.(Citation: PenTestLabs AppDomainManagerInject)(Citation: PwC Yellow Liderc)(Citation: Rapid7 AppDomain Manager Injection)

Linked Issues

Issuelinks
Linktype	Issue
is related to	Techniques
is blocked by	Detection Strategy for Hijack Execution Flow through the AppDomainManager on Windows.
is blocked by	Restrict File and Directory Permissions
is blocked by	Access Restriction For Change
is blocked by	Security, Compliance & Resilience Controls Oversight
is blocked by	Secure Baseline Configurations
is blocked by	Least Functionality
is blocked by	Continuous Monitoring
is blocked by	Malicious Code Protection (Anti-Malware)
is blocked by	Endpoint File Integrity Monitoring (FIM)
is blocked by	Access Enforcement
is blocked by	Least Privilege
is blocked by	Input Data Validation

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