Sigma rule: Potential Arbitrary DLL Load Using Winword

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-f01737749e1c, updated 2023-03-29T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Potential Arbitrary DLL Load Using Winword
Status
test
Level
medium
Author
Victor Sergeev, oscd.community
Date
2020-10-09
Modified
2023-03-29
File
rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_office_winword_dll_load.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects potential DLL sideloading using the Microsoft Office winword process via the '/l' flag.

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection_img:
    - Image|endswith: '\WINWORD.exe'
    - OriginalFileName: 'WinWord.exe'
selection_dll:
    CommandLine|contains|all:
        - '/l '
        - '.dll'
condition: all of selection_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unknown

Tags

  • attack.stealth
  • attack.t1202

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/process_creation/proc_creation_win_office_winword_dll_load.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Potential Arbitrary DLL Load Using Winword" by Victor Sergeev, oscd.community (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_office_winword_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: Potential Arbitrary DLL Load Using Winword",
entity page, dataset version ref-f01737749e1c, updated 2023-03-29T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/f7375e28-5c14-432f-b8d1-1db26c832df3 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule f7375e28-5c14-432f-b8d1-1db26c832df3, 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.