Sigma rule: Potential Mfdetours.DLL Sideloading

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-914e29d68da7, updated 2023-08-03T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Potential Mfdetours.DLL Sideloading
Status
test
Level
medium
Author
Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
Date
2023-08-03
File
rules/windows/image_load/image_load_side_load_mfdetours.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects potential DLL sideloading of "mfdetours.dll". While using "mftrace.exe" it can be abused to attach to an arbitrary process and force load any DLL named "mfdetours.dll" from the current directory of execution.

Log source

product
windows
category
image_load

Detection

selection:
    ImageLoaded|endswith: '\mfdetours.dll'
filter_main_legit_path:
    ImageLoaded|contains: ':\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\bin\'
condition: selection and not 1 of filter_main_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unlikely

Tags

  • attack.persistence
  • attack.privilege-escalation
  • attack.execution
  • attack.stealth
  • attack.t1574.001

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

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_side_load_mfdetours.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Potential Mfdetours.DLL Sideloading" by Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/image_load/image_load_side_load_mfdetours.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: Potential Mfdetours.DLL Sideloading",
entity page, dataset version ref-914e29d68da7, updated 2023-08-03T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/d2605a99-2218-4894-8fd3-2afb7946514d (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule d2605a99-2218-4894-8fd3-2afb7946514d, 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.