Sigma rule: Rebuild Performance Counter Values Via Lodctr.EXE

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-4b1f935d5117, updated 2024-03-05T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Rebuild Performance Counter Values Via Lodctr.EXE
Status
test
Level
medium
Author
Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
Date
2023-06-15
Modified
2024-03-05
File
rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_lodctr_performance_counter_tampering.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects the execution of "lodctr.exe" to rebuild the performance counter registry values. This can be abused by attackers by providing a malicious config file to overwrite performance counter configuration to confuse and evade monitoring and security solutions.

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection_img:
    Image|endswith: '\lodctr.exe'
    OriginalFileName: 'LODCTR.EXE'
selection_cli:
    CommandLine|contains|windash: ' -r'
condition: all of selection_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Legitimate usage by an administrator

Tags

  • attack.execution

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_lodctr_performance_counter_tampering.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Rebuild Performance Counter Values Via Lodctr.EXE" by Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_lodctr_performance_counter_tampering.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: Rebuild Performance Counter Values Via Lodctr.EXE",
entity page, dataset version ref-4b1f935d5117, updated 2024-03-05T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/cc9d3712-6310-4320-b2df-7cb408274d53 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule cc9d3712-6310-4320-b2df-7cb408274d53, 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.