Sigma rule: New DLL Added to AppInit_DLLs Registry Key

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-9e0935c7f8da, updated 2022-12-25T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
New DLL Added to AppInit_DLLs Registry Key
Status
test
Level
medium
Author
Ilyas Ochkov, oscd.community, Tim Shelton
Date
2019-10-25
Modified
2022-12-25
File
rules/windows/registry/registry_event/registry_event_new_dll_added_to_appinit_dlls_registry_key.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

DLLs that are specified in the AppInit_DLLs value in the Registry key HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows are loaded by user32.dll into every process that loads user32.dll

Log source

product
windows
category
registry_event

Detection

selection:
    - TargetObject|endswith:
          - '\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows\AppInit_Dlls'
          - '\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows\AppInit_Dlls'
    # Key Rename
    - NewName|endswith:
          - '\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows\AppInit_Dlls'
          - '\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows\AppInit_Dlls'
filter:
    Details: '(Empty)'
condition: selection and not filter

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unknown

Tags

  • attack.privilege-escalation
  • attack.persistence
  • attack.t1546.010

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/registry/registry_event/registry_event_new_dll_added_to_appinit_dlls_registry_key.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "New DLL Added to AppInit_DLLs Registry Key" by Ilyas Ochkov, oscd.community, Tim Shelton (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/registry/registry_event/registry_event_new_dll_added_to_appinit_dlls_registry_key.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: New DLL Added to AppInit_DLLs Registry Key",
entity page, dataset version ref-9e0935c7f8da, updated 2022-12-25T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/4f84b697-c9ed-4420-8ab5-e09af5b2345d (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 4f84b697-c9ed-4420-8ab5-e09af5b2345d, 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.