Sigma rule: Potential DCOM InternetExplorer.Application DLL Hijack - Image Load

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-3676ffb1685e, updated 2022-12-18T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Potential DCOM InternetExplorer.Application DLL Hijack - Image Load
Status
test
Level
critical
Author
Roberto Rodriguez @Cyb3rWard0g, Open Threat Research (OTR), wagga
Date
2020-10-12
Modified
2022-12-18
File
rules/windows/image_load/image_load_iexplore_dcom_iertutil_dll_hijack.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects potential DLL hijack of "iertutil.dll" found in the DCOM InternetExplorer.Application Class

Log source

product
windows
category
image_load

Detection

selection:
    Image|endswith: '\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe'
    ImageLoaded|endswith: '\Internet Explorer\iertutil.dll'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unknown

Tags

  • attack.lateral-movement
  • attack.t1021.002
  • attack.t1021.003

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_iexplore_dcom_iertutil_dll_hijack.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Potential DCOM InternetExplorer.Application DLL Hijack - Image Load" by Roberto Rodriguez @Cyb3rWard0g, Open Threat Research (OTR), wagga (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/image_load/image_load_iexplore_dcom_iertutil_dll_hijack.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 DCOM InternetExplorer.Application DLL Hijack - Image Load",
entity page, dataset version ref-3676ffb1685e, updated 2022-12-18T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/f354eba5-623b-450f-b073-0b5b2773b6aa (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule f354eba5-623b-450f-b073-0b5b2773b6aa, 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.