huntrule

Windows DCOM InternetExplorer.Application DLL Hijack via iertutil.dll Image Load

Alerts when iexplore.exe loads iertutil.dll from an Internet Explorer path, indicating possible DLL hijacking.

FreeReviewedSigma · Critical · v2
Product
windows
Category
image_load
Author
Roberto Rodriguez @Cyb3rWard0g, Open Threat Research (OTR), wagga (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2020-10-12
Updated
2026-07-31
AnalysisDetection

ATT&CK techniques

Lateral Movement

  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

Flags image load events where iexplore.exe loads iertutil.dll from an Internet Explorer path, indicative of a potential DLL hijack targeting the DCOM InternetExplorer.Application component. DLL hijacking matters because attackers can redirect a trusted process to load a malicious library for code execution. The rule relies on Windows image-load telemetry, specifically the loaded module path ending in iertutil.dll and the parent process image ending in iexplore.exe.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1021.002 — drag to rearrange
Windows DCOM InternetExplorer.Application iertutil.dll DLL Hijack Suspicion
Windows Security: Remote DCOM IE DLL Hijack via iertutil.dll in Internet Explorer path
Suspicious Access to Citrix Session Evidence Registry Keys
Suspicious Ransomware Fan-Out Deployment via PsExec Spread (Qilin)
Suspicious Impacket smbexec Command Execution Pattern
Malicious Impacket Wmiexec Remote Command Execution Pattern
Suspicious Remote Admin Share Execution via Conhost
Malicious Network Share Manipulation via Commandline (via process_creation)
Suspicious Number of Oustanding SMB Requests Increased (via process_creation)
Windows DCOM InternetExplorer.Application DLL Hijack via iertutil.dll Image Load
Pivot detection · T1021.002 · 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.