Suspicious DLL Loaded through CertOC.EXE (via process_creation)

title: Suspicious DLL Loaded through CertOC.EXE (via process_creation)
id: ff8850e1-056e-5168-8f20-eea2f9338306
status: stable
description: This rule detects when a user installs certificates by using CertOC.exe to loads the target DLL file.
references:
    - https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1218/
    - https://twitter.com/sblmsrsn/status/1445758411803480072?s=20
    - https://github.com/elastic/protections-artifacts/commit/746086721fd385d9f5c6647cada1788db4aea95f#diff-fe98e74189873d6df72a15df2eaa0315c59ba9cdaca93ecd68afc4ea09194ef2
    - https://lolbas-project.github.io/lolbas/Binaries/Certoc/
author: Huntrule Team
date: 2026-05-08
tags:
    - attack.stealth
    - attack.t1218
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection_img:
        - Image|endswith: '\certoc.exe'
        - OriginalFileName: 'CertOC.exe'
    selection_cli:
        CommandLine|contains|windash: ' -LoadDLL '
    condition: all of selection_*
falsepositives:
    - Unknown
level: medium