Suspicious svchost.exe Loading Unsigned DLL (via image_load)

ATT&CK techniques

Persistence → Priv Esc

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
- T1543.003Windows Service
Priv Esc
- T1543.003Windows Service
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects svchost.exe loading an unsigned DLL, a service-hosting abuse pattern highlighted by Group-IB hunting guidance where malicious service DLLs are loaded into the shared Windows service host process. Adversaries leverage service DLL loading to run code under a trusted process and blend with legitimate service activity, making unsigned loads worth surfacing for baselining and outlier review.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1543.003 — drag to rearrange

Suspicious K7Soft Autostart Persistence

Suspicious Service ImagePath Pointing to ShieldNetWork Driver via Registry

Suspicious Scarab Service Persistence Registration via Registry (via registry_set)

Suspicious Embargo Service irnagentd Creation via Process Creation

Suspicious HotPage Driver Drop under ShieldNetWork Directory via File System

Malicious Vulnerable Driver Load by GentleKiller BYOVD EDR Killer

Malicious UPlugPlay Service Creation Masquerading as PlugPlay

Suspicious Service binPath Hijack Followed by System Reboot

Malicious TELEPUZ Service Persistence via CipherAllocator Registry Key

Suspicious svchost.exe Loading Unsigned DLL (via image_load)

Pivot detection · T1543.003 · 9 related

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

Full detection rule

Unlock this rule to view and copy it

The detection logic is included with a plan. Everything else — context, mappings and implementation details — stays free on this page.

Sign in for 3 free unlocks

Signing in gives you 3 unlocks to spend on any rule in the library. No card, and they do not expire.

Also included

Unlocked rules convert on this page — to Splunk SPL or Splunk — Raw Index SPL or Microsoft Sentinel KQL or Microsoft Sentinel ASIM ASIM KQL or Microsoft Defender XDR KQL or Elastic Security KQL or Elastic Security Lucene or Elastic Security ES|QL or CrowdStrike Falcon CQL or SentinelOne PowerQuery or Palo Alto Cortex XDR XQL or Carbon Black Cloud Platform Search or Carbon Black EDR Process Search or Google Security Operations UDM Search or IBM QRadar AQL or Sumo Logic Cloud SIEM Rules expression or Rapid7 InsightIDR LEQL or Graylog Search or OpenSearch Lucene or OpenSearch PPL PPL or Grafana Loki LogQL or SQLite SQL or Zircolite SQLite — with the log-source profile the engine picked, the field map it used, and everything it could not express. Converting a rule you have unlocked costs no further credit.

See it run on a free rule →Convert your own rule →