Sigma rule: PowerShell Core DLL Loaded Via Office Application

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-69132094807b, updated 2023-06-01T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
PowerShell Core DLL Loaded Via Office Application
Status
test
Level
medium
Author
Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
Date
2023-06-01
File
rules/windows/image_load/image_load_office_powershell_dll_load.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects PowerShell core DLL being loaded by an Office Product

Log source

product
windows
category
image_load

Detection

selection:
    Image|endswith:
        - '\excel.exe'
        - '\mspub.exe'
        - '\outlook.exe'
        - '\onenote.exe'
        - '\onenoteim.exe' # Just in case
        - '\powerpnt.exe'
        - '\winword.exe'
    ImageLoaded|contains:
        - '\System.Management.Automation.Dll'
        - '\System.Management.Automation.ni.Dll'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unknown

Tags

  • attack.stealth

References

  • Internal Research

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/image_load/image_load_office_powershell_dll_load.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "PowerShell Core DLL Loaded Via Office Application" by Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/image_load/image_load_office_powershell_dll_load.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: PowerShell Core DLL Loaded Via Office Application",
entity page, dataset version ref-69132094807b, updated 2023-06-01T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/bb2ba6fb-95d4-4a25-89fc-30bb736c021a (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule bb2ba6fb-95d4-4a25-89fc-30bb736c021a, 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.