Sigma rule: Shell32 DLL Execution in Suspicious Directory

Rule

Title

Shell32 DLL Execution in Suspicious Directory

Status

test

Level

high

Author

Christian Burkard (Nextron Systems)

Date

2021-11-24

Modified

2023-02-09

File

rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_rundll32_shell32_susp_execution.yml

Commit

ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects shell32.dll executing a DLL in a suspicious directory

Log source

product

windows

category

process_creation

Detection

selection_img:
    - Image|endswith: '\rundll32.exe'
    - OriginalFileName: 'RUNDLL32.EXE'
selection_cli:
    CommandLine|contains|all:
        - 'shell32.dll'
        - 'Control_RunDLL'
    CommandLine|contains:
        - '%AppData%'
        - '%LocalAppData%'
        - '%Temp%'
        - '%tmp%'
        - '\AppData\'
        - '\Temp\'
        - '\Users\Public\'
condition: all of selection_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

• Unknown

Tags

• attack.execution
• attack.stealth
• attack.t1218.011

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

• T1218.011

References

• https://www.group-ib.com/resources/threat-research/red-curl-2.html

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/process_creation/proc_creation_win_rundll32_shell32_susp_execution.yml