huntrule

PowerShell Scripts Calling WinAPI DLLs on Windows

Detects PowerShell script blocks that reference WinAPI-related Windows DLLs such as kernel32.dll and ntdll.dll.

FreeReviewedSigma · Medium · v5
Product
windows
Category
ps_script
Author
Nikita Nazarov, oscd.community, Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2023-07-21
Updated
2026-07-31
AnalysisDetection

ATT&CK techniques

Execution

  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 flags PowerShell script block content that includes references to common Windows system DLLs such as Advapi32.dll, kernel32.dll, KernelBase.dll, ntdll.dll, secur32.dll, and user32.dll. Attackers may invoke WinAPI functionality directly from scripts to blend in or bypass detections focused on standard PowerShell activity. It relies on PowerShell Script Block Logging telemetry that records script block text for these DLL name matches.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1059.001 — drag to rearrange
Windows PowerShell ScriptBlock WinAPI Function Calls
PowerShell Script Block WinAPI Calls Indicative of Injection or Token Abuse (Windows)
Suspicious Script Interpreter Spawned by Explorer via ClickFix Run Dialog (via process_creation)
Suspicious PowerShell Download Cradle via ClickFix Fake CAPTCHA (via process_creation)
Suspicious PowerShell EncodedCommand Spawned From Command Shell via Process Creation
Suspicious Script Download via Curl and PowerShell by Dohdoor
Malicious Mass Hyper-V Virtual Machine Shutdown via PowerShell by Kraken Ransomware
Suspicious PowerShell WebClient DownloadFile of Archive Payload (UAT-7237)
Suspicious SharePoint Worker Process Spawning Command Interpreter via ToolShell
PowerShell Scripts Calling WinAPI DLLs on Windows
Pivot detection · T1059.001 · 9 related

Changelog

v5
  1. v5
    Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
  2. v4
    Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
  3. v3
    Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
  4. v2
    Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
  5. v1
    No changelog recorded for this version.2026-07-30

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