Sigma rule: Potential Persistence Via Microsoft Office Add-In

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-45bd2641f0e4, updated 2023-02-08T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Potential Persistence Via Microsoft Office Add-In
Status
test
Level
high
Author
NVISO
Date
2020-05-11
Modified
2023-02-08
File
rules/windows/file/file_event/file_event_win_office_addin_persistence.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects potential persistence activity via startup add-ins that load when Microsoft Office starts (.wll/.xll are simply .dll fit for Word or Excel).

Log source

product
windows
category
file_event

Detection

selection_wlldropped:
    TargetFilename|contains: '\Microsoft\Word\Startup\'
    TargetFilename|endswith: '.wll'
selection_xlldropped:
    TargetFilename|contains: '\Microsoft\Excel\Startup\'
    TargetFilename|endswith: '.xll'
selection_xladropped:
    TargetFilename|contains: 'Microsoft\Excel\XLSTART\'
    TargetFilename|endswith: '.xlam'
selection_generic:
    TargetFilename|contains: '\Microsoft\Addins\'
    TargetFilename|endswith:
        - '.xlam'
        - '.xla'
        - '.ppam'
condition: 1 of selection_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Legitimate add-ins

Tags

  • attack.persistence
  • attack.t1137.006

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/file/file_event/file_event_win_office_addin_persistence.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Potential Persistence Via Microsoft Office Add-In" by NVISO (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/file/file_event/file_event_win_office_addin_persistence.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: Potential Persistence Via Microsoft Office Add-In",
entity page, dataset version ref-45bd2641f0e4, updated 2023-02-08T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/8e1cb247-6cf6-42fa-b440-3f27d57e9936 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 8e1cb247-6cf6-42fa-b440-3f27d57e9936, 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.