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Windows DLL Sideloading: System DLL Names Loaded from Non-Standard Paths (ImageLoad)

Alerts when Windows image loads DLL names typically found in system locations, excluding common benign paths to reduce false positives.

FreeReviewedSigma · High · v2
Product
windows
Category
image_load
Author
Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2022-08-14
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 loads where the loaded module name matches a large list of Windows DLLs typically associated with system locations, but the event occurs from a non-standard path. Such behavior is commonly used for DLL sideloading to coerce a process into loading attacker-controlled code while keeping expected library names. It relies on image load telemetry, specifically the ImageLoaded field and module name/path substrings and prefixes to exclude common benign locations and automated update activities.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1574.001 — drag to rearrange
Malicious DLL Sideloading via consent.exe Loading msimg32.dll (via image_load)
Malicious Bumblebee DLL Sideload of msimg32 by consent from Non-System Path (via image_load)
Suspicious BugSplat Binary Sideloading bugsplatrc.dll via DLL Search Order Hijack
Suspicious SentinelOne Binary Sideloading sentinelagentcore.dll
Suspicious 7-Zip Executable Sideloading 7z.dll Loader
Suspicious Loading of Masqueraded EndpointDlp.dll Backdoor
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 DLL Sideloading: System DLL Names Loaded from Non-Standard Paths (ImageLoad)
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.