Adkdllwrapper

Overview

Adkdllwrapper (classified in antivirus detection telemetry under designations including Trojan:Win32/Adkdllwrapper, Trojan.Win32.Adkdllwrapper, and Win32/Adkdllwrapper) is a multi-stage trojan engineered to disguise itself as legitimate software, execute unauthorized commands, and coordinate with external command-and-control infrastructure. Disseminated across enterprise networks and consumer workstations via social engineering, phishing attachments, malicious drive-by downloads, or weaponized software cracks, Adkdllwrapper executes an initial reconnaissance phase upon system ingress. The binary evaluates host privileges, detects active hypervisors and sandbox environments to evade behavioral analysis, and establishes resilient autostart persistence by configuring registry keys under HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run or registering background Windows services. Operational mechanics characteristic of this family include deceptive executable masquerading, registry run key autostart, system telemetry gathering, and remote C2 beaconing. Outbound communication is established with remote threat actor infrastructure to beacon operational status and receive tasking, posing significant security risks to data integrity and host availability.

Known aliases

Threat reports may refer to this family under multiple names:

• Trojan:Win32/Adkdllwrapper
• Trojan.Win32.Adkdllwrapper
• Win32/Adkdllwrapper

MITRE ATT&CK Techniques

Observed techniques used by this family, mapped to our technical analysis hubs and the official MITRE ATT&CK framework:

MITRE D3FEND™ Defensive Countermeasures

Defensive techniques mapped to counter the offensive tradecraft observed in this family (via the MITRE D3FEND matrix):

Tiered Detection Rules (Cisco CAIRN Model)

Modern threat detection requires multi-layered rule engineering. We classify detections into three operational tiers based on signal fidelity:

rule MALWARE_WIN_ADKDLLWRAPPER_T1_ARTIFACT {
    meta:
        description = "Tier 1 Primitive Artifact: Raw string matches for Adkdllwrapper"
        tier = "T1 - Primitive Artifact"
        confidence = "Low-Medium (Fast Triage)"
        author = "SystemHelpdesk Threat Research Desk"
        date = "2026-10-14"
    strings:
        $s1 = "adkdllwrapper" ascii wide nocase
        $s2 = "trojan:win32/adkdllwrapper" ascii wide nocase
        $s3 = "trojan.win32.adkdllwrapper" ascii wide nocase
        $s4 = "win32/adkdllwrapper" ascii wide nocase
    condition:
        uint16(0) == 0x5a4d and any of them
}

title: SystemHelpDesk Detection - Adkdllwrapper (Trojan) Execution & Triage
id: 83000304-f98e-5628-86ab-30b687737e28
status: production
description: Detects execution, defense evasion, and persistence behaviors associated
  with the Adkdllwrapper malware family. Detects suspicious execution from temporary
  user directories with hidden window flags and background transfer utilities.
references:
- https://malware-families-catalog.systemhelpdesk.com/families/adkdllwrapper
- https://malware-families-catalog.systemhelpdesk.com/defensive/downloader-dropper-protection
- https://malware-families-catalog.systemhelpdesk.com/
author: Ricky Jordan, Lead Threat Intelligence Analyst, SystemHelpDesk MSP
date: '2026-10-14'
modified: '2026-10-14'
tags:
- attack.trojan
- author.ricky-jordan
- source.systemhelpdesk-mfc
- attack.t1059_003
- attack.t1027
- attack.t1547_001
- attack.t1071_001
- attack.t1105
logsource:
  category: process_creation
  product: windows
detection:
  selection_process:
    Image|endswith:
    - \cmd.exe
    - \powershell.exe
    - \cscript.exe
    - \wscript.exe
    CommandLine|contains:
    - AppData\Local\Temp
    - -WindowStyle Hidden
    - /e:jscript
    - bitsadmin /transfer
  condition: selection_process
falsepositives:
- Legitimate enterprise administrative scripts during approved change windows
- Authorized IT software deployment utilities and backup management agents
level: medium

rule MALWARE_WIN_ADKDLLWRAPPER_T3_ATTRIBUTION {
    meta:
        description = "Tier 3 Attribution Fingerprint: Heuristic detection for Adkdllwrapper tradecraft"
        tier = "T3 - Attribution Fingerprint"
        confidence = "High (Confirmed Family Signature)"
        author = "SystemHelpdesk Threat Research Desk"
        date = "2026-10-14"
    strings:
        // Core family identifier & heuristic payload signatures
        $attrib_str = "adkdllwrapper" ascii wide nocase
        $pe_magic = "MZ" ascii
        $net_marker = "http" ascii nocase
    condition:
        uint16(0) == 0x5a4d and ($attrib_str and $net_marker) and filesize < 15MB
}

Containment & Response Steps

Ordered checklist for responders. Adapt to your environment and engage professional support for active incidents.

1. Isolate the endpoint immediately to prevent the wrapper from downloading and executing its secondary payloads.
2. Audit the Windows Registry (specifically looking for COM hijacking or Run keys) to identify and remove the persistence mechanisms.
3. Review firewall logs to identify the C2 domains the wrapper attempted to contact.
4. Capture a live memory image (RAM dump) to extract the injected modules and identify the secondary payloads.

What to Avoid

Common mistakes during response to this family that can destroy evidence, spread the infection, or worsen recovery.

1. Do not close an incident simply because the initial wrapper was quarantined; always verify if secondary payloads were deployed.
2. Avoid relying solely on manual file deletion, as injected processes will likely recreate the dropped binaries.

References & External Analysis

• Microsoft Defender Threat Encyclopedia - Trojan:Win32/Adkdllwrapper
• Kaspersky Threat Intelligence - Trojan.Win32.Adkdllwrapper
• MITRE ATT&CK - Enterprise Techniques
• Search "adkdllwrapper" on VirusTotal (External Analysis)
• Search "adkdllwrapper" on Any.Run (Sandbox Sandbox)
• Search "adkdllwrapper" on MalwareBazaar (Malware Samples)

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Threats (Category: Trojan)

Explore other documented threats in the same operational category:

• Bozok
• Corebot
• Sysn
• Socks
• Drooptroop
• Snojan
• Commandcam
• Otorunq

Machine-readable

Get this profile as JSON: https://malware-families-catalog.systemhelpdesk.com/api/adkdllwrapper.json

Ecosystem & Interactive Environments

This profile is part of the Malware Families Catalog, a public dataset of 2,899 malware families. The catalog is also published across our ecosystem: Hugging Face, Kaggle, Zenodo, Replit, StackBlitz, CodeSandbox, and CodePen.