huntrule

Windows: Detect VMMap loading a signed dbghelp.dll from C:\Debuggers\

Alerts on vmmap.exe/vmmap64.exe loading a signed dbghelp.dll from C:\Debuggers, consistent with potential DLL sideloading.

FreeReviewedSigma · Medium · v2
Product
windows
Category
image_load
Author
Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2023-09-05
Updated
2026-07-31
AnalysisDetection

ATT&CK techniques

Execution → Defense Evasion

  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 DLL sideloading behavior where Sysinternals VMMap (vmmap.exe/vmmap64.exe) loads a signed dbghelp.dll located under C:\Debuggers\. Attackers may use a similarly named, signed DLL placed on disk to influence application loading and execute malicious code under a trusted process context. The detection relies on image load telemetry that records the loaded DLL path, the parent process image, and the DLL’s signed status.

Reporting behind it

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Suspicious Trend Micro Binary Sideloading tmdglog.dll
Suspicious DLL Sideloading via ProtonVPN Executable (via image_load)
Suspicious DLL Sideloading via OneDriveStandaloneUpdater (via image_load)
Windows: Detect VMMap loading a signed dbghelp.dll from C:\Debuggers\
Pivot detection · T1574.001 · 9 related

Changelog

v2
  1. v2
    Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
  2. 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.