Sigma rule: Rundll32 JS RunHTMLApplication Pattern

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-38133a89e649, updated 2024-02-23T00:00:00.000Z.

SigmaHQ marks this rule as deprecated.

Rule

Title: Rundll32 JS RunHTMLApplication Pattern
Status: deprecated
Level: high
Author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)
Date: 2022-01-14
Modified: 2024-02-23
File: deprecated/windows/proc_creation_win_rundll32_js_runhtmlapplication.yml
Commit: ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects suspicious command line patterns used when rundll32 is used to run JavaScript code

Log source

product: windows
category: process_creation

Detection

selection1:
    CommandLine|contains|all:
        - 'rundll32'
        - 'javascript'
        - '..\..\mshtml,'
        - 'RunHTMLApplication'
selection2:
    CommandLine|contains: ';document.write();GetObject("script'
condition: 1 of selection*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

Unlikely

References

http://hyp3rlinx.altervista.org/advisories/MICROSOFT_WINDOWS_DEFENDER_DETECTION_BYPASS.txt
https://hyp3rlinx.altervista.org/advisories/MICROSOFT_WINDOWS_DEFENDER_TROJAN.WIN32.POWESSERE.G_MITIGATION_BYPASS_PART2.txt

Read on 2026-11-03T00:58:21.399Z under licence sigma-drl-1.1@d5f4c36a from https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/deprecated/windows/proc_creation_win_rundll32_js_runhtmlapplication.yml

Sources and licences

SigmaHQ
"Rundll32 JS RunHTMLApplication Pattern" by Florian Roth (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/deprecated/windows/proc_creation_win_rundll32_js_runhtmlapplication.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: Rundll32 JS RunHTMLApplication Pattern",
entity page, dataset version ref-38133a89e649, updated 2024-02-23T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/9f06447a-a33a-4cbe-a94f-a3f43184a7a3 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 9f06447a-a33a-4cbe-a94f-a3f43184a7a3, 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.