Sigma rule: CobaltStrike Load by Rundll32

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-93163a0a125c, updated 2022-09-16T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
CobaltStrike Load by Rundll32
Status
test
Level
high
Author
Wojciech Lesicki
Date
2021-06-01
Modified
2022-09-16
File
rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_hktl_cobaltstrike_load_by_rundll32.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Rundll32 can be use by Cobalt Strike with StartW function to load DLLs from the command line.

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection_rundll:
    - Image|endswith: '\rundll32.exe'
    - OriginalFileName: RUNDLL32.EXE
    - CommandLine|contains:
          - 'rundll32.exe'
          - 'rundll32 '
selection_params:
    CommandLine|contains: '.dll'
    CommandLine|endswith:
        - ' StartW'
        - ',StartW'
condition: all of selection*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unknown

Tags

  • attack.stealth
  • attack.t1218.011

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/process_creation/proc_creation_win_hktl_cobaltstrike_load_by_rundll32.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "CobaltStrike Load by Rundll32" by Wojciech Lesicki (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_hktl_cobaltstrike_load_by_rundll32.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: CobaltStrike Load by Rundll32",
entity page, dataset version ref-93163a0a125c, updated 2022-09-16T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/ae9c6a7c-9521-42a6-915e-5aaa8689d529 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule ae9c6a7c-9521-42a6-915e-5aaa8689d529, 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.