Sigma rule: HackTool - Powerup Write Hijack DLL

Rule

Title

HackTool - Powerup Write Hijack DLL

Status

test

Level

high

Author

Subhash Popuri (@pbssubhash)

Date

2021-08-21

Modified

2024-06-27

File

rules/windows/file/file_event/file_event_win_hktl_powerup_dllhijacking.yml

Commit

ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Powerup tool's Write Hijack DLL exploits DLL hijacking for privilege escalation.
In it's default mode, it builds a self deleting .bat file which executes malicious command.
The detection rule relies on creation of the malicious bat file (debug.bat by default).

Log source

product

windows

category

file_event

Detection

selection:
    Image|endswith:
        - '\powershell.exe'
        - '\pwsh.exe'
    TargetFilename|endswith: '.bat'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

• Any powershell script that creates bat files

Tags

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

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

• T1574.001

References

• https://powersploit.readthedocs.io/en/latest/Privesc/Write-HijackDll/

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/file/file_event/file_event_win_hktl_powerup_dllhijacking.yml