Sigma rule: DLL Sideloading Of ShellChromeAPI.DLL

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-0741d7158b27, updated 2022-12-01T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
DLL Sideloading Of ShellChromeAPI.DLL
Status
test
Level
high
Author
Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
Date
2022-12-01
File
rules/windows/image_load/image_load_side_load_shell_chrome_api.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects processes loading the non-existent DLL "ShellChromeAPI". One known example is the "DeviceEnroller" binary in combination with the "PhoneDeepLink" flag tries to load this DLL.
Adversaries can drop their own renamed DLL and execute it via DeviceEnroller.exe using this parameter

Log source

product
windows
category
image_load

Detection

selection:
    # The DLL shouldn't exist on Windows anymore. If for some reason you still have it. You could filter out legitimate calls
    ImageLoaded|endswith: '\ShellChromeAPI.dll'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unknown

Tags

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

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

Related rules

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/image_load/image_load_side_load_shell_chrome_api.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "DLL Sideloading Of ShellChromeAPI.DLL" by Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/image_load/image_load_side_load_shell_chrome_api.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: DLL Sideloading Of ShellChromeAPI.DLL",
entity page, dataset version ref-0741d7158b27, updated 2022-12-01T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/ee4c5d06-3abc-48cc-8885-77f1c20f4451 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule ee4c5d06-3abc-48cc-8885-77f1c20f4451, 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.