LOLAPI

Living Off The Land APIs

Structured catalog of legitimate system APIs weaponized for attack. Detection strategies, abuse scenarios, and mitigation guidance.

📦 29 APIs Cataloged🛡️ Detection Strategies Included🎓 MITRE ATT&CK Mapped
29

High-Impact APIs

6

Categories

45+

Abuse Scenarios

100%

Open Source

Coverage by Category

🔷
10

Windows .NET

🔶
6

Windows COM

⚙️
3

Native APIs

🌐
2

Browser Ext

☁️
3

Cloud Services

🐍
3

Script Engines

📦
2

Miscellaneous

Why LOLAPI?

🎯

Structured Catalog

YAML-based entries with schema validation for consistency

🔍

Abuse Scenarios

Real code examples with full attack context and execution flow

🛡️

Detection Strategies

Behavioral, forensic, and log-based detection signals

📊

Risk Scoring

Quantified severity × prevalence × ease of abuse

🎓

MITRE ATT&CK

Mapped to tactics, techniques, and real-world campaigns

🤝

Community-Driven

Open for contributions and improvements from the community

The Problem

After organizations deploy WDAC (Windows Defender Application Control) to block LOLBASline binaries, attackers simply shift tactics to abuse legitimate system APIs:

  • .NET Reflection-based code execution
  • COM/WMI automation (legitimate admin tools)
  • Windows API direct abuse (kernel32, ntdll)
  • Browser extension APIs for persistence
  • Cloud metadata services for privilege escalation

The Solution

LOLAPI fills the gap with a structured, comprehensive catalog:

  • Catalog of 29+ high-impact weaponized APIs
  • Real abuse scenarios with code examples
  • Detection strategies (behavioral, forensic, logs)
  • Risk scoring and prevalence data
  • MITRE ATT&CK mapping and campaign attribution

Trust & Transparency

🔐

Security First

Responsible disclosure policy and security guidelines in place.

View Security Policy →
📖

Open & Transparent

All data in YAML format, fully documented, and peer-reviewed.

Contributing Guide →
📋

Community Driven

Built for the security community, with contributions from researchers.

Join Community →