Suspicious rundll32 shell32.dll Ordinal 61 Execution

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 calling shell32.dll by ordinal number 61, a proxy-execution trick observed in the NightshadeC2 loader chain. Invoking shell32 functions by ordinal avoids readable export names and is used to launch further stages while blending into normal rundll32 usage. Ordinal-based shell32 execution rarely appears in legitimate activity.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1218.011 — drag to rearrange

Suspicious Rundll32 Loading DLL From Public or ProgramData Path via Process Creation (via process_creation)

Malicious LSASS Credential Dump via Rundll32 Comsvcs MiniDump via Process Creation (via process_creation)

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

Suspicious WebDAV Retrieval via rundll32 and davclnt.dll (via process_creation)

Suspicious Rundll32 Execution with Latrodectus Loader Exports (via process_creation)

Suspicious Rundll32 Execution with IcedID Loader Export (via process_creation)

Malicious Scheduled Task Running rundll32 w32analytics (via process_creation)

Suspicious StrelaStealer DLL Execution via Rundll32 Hello Export from Temp (via process_creation)

Malicious Scheduled rundll32 Execution of ProgramData VMware DLL by BianLian

Suspicious rundll32 shell32.dll Ordinal 61 Execution

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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