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analyzing-loaders-and-droppers

Analyzes loader and dropper samples by identifying staging behavior — embedded or downloaded next-stage payloads, decode/decrypt routines, and the execution mechanism used to run the next stage. Activates for requests to analyze a loader or dropper, find a staged payload, or map multi-stage delivery behavior.

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Files included (4)

  • SKILL.md2.8 KB
  • LICENSE340 B
  • references/api-reference.md1.4 KB
  • scripts/analyst.py2.9 KB

SKILL.md (original)

Review the instructions the agent will receive before you install.

Analyzing Loaders and Droppers

When to Use

  • You have a first-stage loader/dropper and need to find the next stage: an embedded resource, an appended overlay, or a download URL.
  • You need to identify the decode/decrypt routine and the execution mechanism (process creation, injection, scheduled task, DLL side-loading).

Do not use this to run the loader and fetch live stages — characterize staging statically and retrieve next stages only in an isolated sandbox.

Prerequisites

  • The loader/dropper sample (read inertly).

Safety & Handling

  • Read bytes statically; defang download URLs; never execute to pull live payloads.

Workflow

Step 1: Locate staged payloads

python scripts/analyst.py stage sample.bin

Detects embedded PE/archive signatures, an appended overlay beyond the PE's mapped size, large high-entropy blobs, and download URLs.

Step 2: Identify decode/execution mechanism

Scan imports/strings for decode APIs (CryptDecrypt, base64), download APIs (URLDownloadToFile, WinHttp, InternetReadFile), and execution (CreateProcess, ShellExecute, WinExec, side-loading hints).

Step 3: Map the delivery chain

Document stage-1 → decode → stage-2 → execution and map each step to ATT&CK.

Step 4: Defang and report

Defang URLs and produce IOCs for the staging infrastructure.

Validation

  • Embedded/overlay stages are confirmed by signature or entropy, with offsets recorded.
  • Download URLs and execution mechanism are identified from imports/strings.
  • The multi-stage chain maps cleanly to ATT&CK techniques.

Pitfalls

  • Treating a benign overlay (installer data, signature) as a payload without corroboration.
  • Missing stages fetched at runtime when no URL is in plaintext (obfuscated/encoded).
  • Confusing the decode routine for the payload itself.

References

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