Sigma rule: Suspicious Msiexec Execute Arbitrary DLL

Rule

Title

Suspicious Msiexec Execute Arbitrary DLL

Status

test

Level

medium

Author

frack113

Date

2022-01-16

Modified

2026-01-09

File

rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_msiexec_execute_dll.yml

Commit

ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Adversaries may abuse msiexec.exe to proxy execution of malicious payloads.
Msiexec.exe is the command-line utility for the Windows Installer and is thus commonly associated with executing installation packages (.msi)

Log source

product

windows

category

process_creation

Detection

selection:
    Image|endswith: '\msiexec.exe'
    CommandLine|contains|windash: ' /Y'
filter_main_legit_path:
    CommandLine|contains:
        - '\MsiExec.exe" /Y "C:\Program Files\'
        - '\MsiExec.exe" /Y "C:\Program Files (x86)\'
        - '\MsiExec.exe" /Y "C:\Windows\System32\'
        - '\MsiExec.exe" /Y "C:\Windows\SysWOW64\'
condition: selection and not 1 of filter_main_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

• Legitimate script

Tags

• attack.stealth
• attack.t1218.007

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

• T1218.007

References

• https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/msiexec
• https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/f339e7da7d05f6057fdfcdd3742bfcf365fee2a9/atomics/T1218.007/T1218.007.md
• https://twitter.com/_st0pp3r_/status/1583914515996897281

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_msiexec_execute_dll.yml