Sigma rule: Trusted Path Bypass via Windows Directory Spoofing

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-6ed1874ee69d, updated 2025-06-17T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Trusted Path Bypass via Windows Directory Spoofing
Status
experimental
Level
high
Author
Swachchhanda Shrawan Poudel (Nextron Systems)
Date
2025-06-17
File
rules/windows/image_load/image_load_win_trusted_path_bypass.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects DLLs loading from a spoofed Windows directory path with an extra space (e.g "C:\Windows \System32") which can bypass Windows trusted path verification.
This technique tricks Windows into treating the path as trusted, allowing malicious DLLs to load with high integrity privileges bypassing UAC.

Log source

product
windows
category
image_load

Detection

selection:
    ImageLoaded|contains:
        - ':\Windows \System32\'  # Note the space between "Windows" and "System32"
        - ':\Windows \SysWOW64\'  # Note the space between "Windows" and "SysWOW64"
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unlikely

Tags

  • attack.persistence
  • attack.privilege-escalation
  • attack.execution
  • attack.stealth
  • attack.t1574.007
  • attack.t1548.002

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

Related rules

References

Read on 2026-11-03T00:58:21.399Z under licence sigma-drl-1.1@d5f4c36a from https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/image_load/image_load_win_trusted_path_bypass.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Trusted Path Bypass via Windows Directory Spoofing" by Swachchhanda Shrawan Poudel (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/image_load/image_load_win_trusted_path_bypass.yml.
    Licensed under the Detection Rule License (DRL) 1.1: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/Detection-Rule-License

    Detection Rule License (DRL) 1.1

Cite this page

Dragons Eye Ransomware Tracker, "Sigma rule: Trusted Path Bypass via Windows Directory Spoofing",
entity page, dataset version ref-6ed1874ee69d, updated 2025-06-17T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/0cbe38c0-270c-41d9-ab79-6e5a9a669290 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 0cbe38c0-270c-41d9-ab79-6e5a9a669290, commit ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84.

Pages change. The dataset version identifies the data, but no archive of old versions is kept, so this citation cannot be replayed later.