Sigma rule: System Control Panel Item Loaded From Uncommon Location

Rule

Title

System Control Panel Item Loaded From Uncommon Location

Status

test

Level

high

Author

Anish Bogati

Date

2024-01-09

Modified

2026-02-17

File

rules/windows/image_load/image_load_side_load_cpl_from_non_system_location.yml

Commit

ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects image load events of system control panel items (.cpl) from uncommon or non-system locations that may indicate DLL sideloading or other abuse techniques.

Log source

product

windows

category

image_load

Detection

selection:
    ImageLoaded|endswith:
        - '\appwiz.cpl' # Usually loaded by fondue.exe
        - '\bthprops.cpl' # Usually loaded by fsquirt.exe
        - '\hdwwiz.cpl' # Usually loaded by hdwwiz.exe
filter_main_legit_location:
    ImageLoaded|startswith:
        - 'C:\Windows\Prefetch\'
        - 'C:\Windows\System32\'
        - 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\'
        - 'C:\Windows\WinSxS\'
condition: selection and not 1 of filter_main_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

• Unknown

Tags

• attack.persistence
• attack.privilege-escalation
• attack.execution
• attack.stealth
• attack.t1574.001

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

• T1574.001

References

• https://www.hexacorn.com/blog/2024/01/06/1-little-known-secret-of-fondue-exe/
• https://www.hexacorn.com/blog/2024/01/01/1-little-known-secret-of-hdwwiz-exe/
• https://github.com/mhaskar/FsquirtCPLPoC
• https://securelist.com/sidewinder-apt/114089/

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_cpl_from_non_system_location.yml