Sigma rule: New DLL Added to AppCertDlls Registry Key

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-7fd2a50a72fe, updated 2021-11-27T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
New DLL Added to AppCertDlls Registry Key
Status
test
Level
medium
Author
Ilyas Ochkov, oscd.community
Date
2019-10-25
Modified
2021-11-27
File
rules/windows/registry/registry_event/registry_event_new_dll_added_to_appcertdlls_registry_key.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Dynamic-link libraries (DLLs) that are specified in the AppCertDLLs value in the Registry key can be abused to obtain persistence and privilege escalation
by causing a malicious DLL to be loaded and run in the context of separate processes on the computer.

Log source

product
windows
category
registry_event

Detection

selection:
    # Sysmon gives us HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\.. if ControlSetXX is the selected one
    - TargetObject: 'HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\AppCertDlls'
    # key rename
    - NewName: 'HKLM\SYSTEM\CurentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\AppCertDlls'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unknown

Tags

  • attack.privilege-escalation
  • attack.persistence
  • attack.t1546.009

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_appcertdlls_registry_key.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "New DLL Added to AppCertDlls Registry Key" by Ilyas Ochkov, oscd.community (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/registry/registry_event/registry_event_new_dll_added_to_appcertdlls_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 AppCertDlls Registry Key",
entity page, dataset version ref-7fd2a50a72fe, updated 2021-11-27T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/6aa1d992-5925-4e9f-a49b-845e51d1de01 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 6aa1d992-5925-4e9f-a49b-845e51d1de01, 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.