Sigma rule: Suspicious Advpack Call Via Rundll32.EXE

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-4ec54bbb3854, updated 2023-05-17T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Suspicious Advpack Call Via Rundll32.EXE
Status
test
Level
high
Author
Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
Date
2023-05-17
File
rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_rundll32_advpack_obfuscated_ordinal_call.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects execution of "rundll32" calling "advpack.dll" with potential obfuscated ordinal calls in order to leverage the "RegisterOCX" function

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection_img:
    - Image|endswith: '\rundll32.exe'
    - OriginalFileName: 'RUNDLL32.EXE'
    - CommandLine|contains: 'rundll32'
selection_cli_dll:
    CommandLine|contains: 'advpack'
selection_cli_ordinal:
    - CommandLine|contains|all:
          - '#+'
          - '12'
    - CommandLine|contains: '#-'
condition: all of selection_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unlikely

Tags

  • attack.stealth

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/process_creation/proc_creation_win_rundll32_advpack_obfuscated_ordinal_call.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Suspicious Advpack Call Via Rundll32.EXE" by Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_rundll32_advpack_obfuscated_ordinal_call.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: Suspicious Advpack Call Via Rundll32.EXE",
entity page, dataset version ref-4ec54bbb3854, updated 2023-05-17T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/a1473adb-5338-4a20-b4c3-126763e2d3d3 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule a1473adb-5338-4a20-b4c3-126763e2d3d3, 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.