Suspicious Rundll32 Execution Without a DLL Reference via Process Creation (via process_creation)

ATT&CK techniques

Defense Evasion

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
- T1218.011Rundll32
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects rundll32.exe executing without any .dll referenced on its command line, a pattern associated with Qbot (Qakbot) module loading as documented by Red Canary during the coordinated takedown. Legitimate rundll32 invocations almost always reference a DLL, so an execution lacking one is a strong indicator of injected or reflectively loaded malicious code worth investigating.

Reporting behind it

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Suspicious Rundll32 Execution Without a DLL Reference via Process Creation (via process_creation)

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.

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