Malicious Rundll32 Execution Of HTML Payload With DllRegisterServer

PremiumReviewedSigma · High · v1
Product
windows
Category
process_creation
Author
HuntRule
Published
2026-07-21
Updated
2026-08-28

ATT&CK techniques

Defense Evasion
  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Initial Access

  4. Execution

  5. Persistence

  6. Priv Esc

  7. Defense Evasion

  8. Cred Access

  9. Discovery

  10. Lateral Movement

  11. Collection

  12. C2

  13. Exfiltration

  14. Impact

What it detects

This rule detects rundll32 loading a file with an .html extension and calling the DllRegisterServer export, the disguised DLL execution used in the Zloader attack against Intel 471. Masquerading the DLL as an HTML file evades extension-based inspection while rundll32 still runs it as a library. This mismatch of extension and export is a strong loader indicator.

Related detections9 linkedT1218.011 — drag to rearrange
Malicious Rundll32 Loading an Export From a User Path (via process_creation)
Renamed Regsvr32 or Rundll32 Loading a DLL With a Non-Standard Extension (via process_creation)
Malicious Rundll32 DllRegisterServer Execution From a User-Writable Path (via process_creation)
IMEEX Framework DLL Execution via Rundll32 Loading imaadp (via process_creation)
Suspicious Persistence via pcalua Launching rundll32 Control_RunDLL
Suspicious Rundll32 Executing DLL Start Export With Control Flags
Suspicious Rundll32 Execution of Timestamp-Named DLL
Suspicious Rundll32 Loading DLL from LocalAppData with Short Export (via process_creation)
Malicious Word Spawning Rundll32 Loading DLL from Roaming Word Folder
Malicious Rundll32 Execution Of HTML Payload With DllRegisterServer
Pivot detection · T1218.011 · 9 related

Detection content is published as a reviewed draft. Tune thresholds and exclusions against your own telemetry before enabling this rule for alerting.