T0874 Hooking — Detection Rules

Source-backed rule directory

No reviewed association in this snapshot.

Atlas deterministic concepts

No exact concept selected.

Anomaly models

No exact Atlas model in this snapshot.

ATT&CK analytic guidance

DET0722 Detection of Hooking

AN1855 Analytic 1855

Real-time monitoring identifies an unsigned or unexpected process calling Windows hooking Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) (SetWindowsHookEx, SetWinEventHook) targeting an Industrial Control System (ICS) engineering or Human-Machine Interface (HMI) process, immediately followed by that target process loading a Dynamic Link Library (DLL) not present in the vendor's signed module baseline. Confirmed in the wild: Stuxnet replaced Siemens' s7otbxdx.dll on engineering workstations to intercept and falsify Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) read/write calls between WinCC/STEP7 and the controller. OT operational-fidelity gate: Alert only when execution violates an approved signer/hash/path/parent/process or tool allowlist, or originates from an unauthorized user/tool, and is tied to an OT asset or follow-on OT-relevant action. Suppress vendor-signed software, approved engineering utilities, diagnostics, patching, backup, and documented maintenance.

AN2110 Analytic 2110

Real-time monitoring identifies a process setting LD_PRELOAD before launching an Industrial Control System (ICS) service binary, or writing to /etc/ld.so.preload, where the injected library path is not part of the vendor's package manifest. OT operational-fidelity gate: Alert only when execution violates an approved signer/hash/path/parent/process or tool allowlist, or originates from an unauthorized user/tool, and is tied to an OT asset or follow-on OT-relevant action. Suppress vendor-signed software, approved engineering utilities, diagnostics, patching, backup, and documented maintenance.

AN2243 Analytic 2243

Detect embedded hooking by correlating an independently acquired firmware/module integrity measurement that differs from the approved vendor/baseline image with protocol-response behavior that also departs from the device's known deterministic behavior. A protocol-response anomaly by itself does not prove a hook because firmware versions, device state, communications faults, and vendor-specific behavior can produce response differences. Treat network anomalies as corroboration and require independent integrity evidence or vendor/device attestation before escalating the condition as firmware-level hooking. Monitoring mode: periodic or event-triggered integrity verification plus near-real-time protocol monitoring where a capable OT protocol decoder is deployed.

AN2286 Analytic 2286

Real-time monitoring identifies ICS protocol responses whose timing or payload structure deviates from the established device-specific per-function baseline in a pattern consistent with an intercepting relay or hook. OT operational-fidelity gate: Alert only when execution violates an approved signer/hash/path/parent/process or tool allowlist, or originates from an unauthorized user/tool, and is tied to an OT asset or follow-on OT-relevant action. Suppress vendor-signed software, approved engineering utilities, diagnostics, patching, backup, and documented maintenance.