Sigma rule: Potential DLL Sideloading Using Coregen.exe

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-56f76eb9d46e, updated 2022-12-31T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Potential DLL Sideloading Using Coregen.exe
Status
test
Level
medium
Author
frack113
Date
2022-12-31
File
rules/windows/image_load/image_load_side_load_coregen.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detect usage of the "coregen.exe" (Microsoft CoreCLR Native Image Generator) binary to sideload arbitrary DLLs.

Log source

product
windows
category
image_load

Detection

selection:
    Image|endswith: '\coregen.exe'
filter_main_legit_paths:
    ImageLoaded|startswith:
        - 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Silverlight\'
        - 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft Silverlight\'
        - 'C:\Windows\System32\'
        - 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\'
condition: selection and not 1 of filter_main_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unknown

Tags

  • attack.privilege-escalation
  • attack.stealth
  • attack.t1218
  • attack.t1055

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

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_side_load_coregen.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Potential DLL Sideloading Using Coregen.exe" by frack113 (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/image_load/image_load_side_load_coregen.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: Potential DLL Sideloading Using Coregen.exe",
entity page, dataset version ref-56f76eb9d46e, updated 2022-12-31T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/0fa66f66-e3f6-4a9c-93f8-4f2610b00171 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 0fa66f66-e3f6-4a9c-93f8-4f2610b00171, 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.