Windows ShellDispatch.dll DLL Sideloading via Image Load Monitoring

Alerts on suspicious loads of ShellDispatch.dll on Windows when not occurring in expected temp directories.

FreeReviewedSigma · Medium · v2

Product: windows
Category: image_load
Author: X__Junior (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published: 2023-06-20
Updated: 2026-07-31

ATT&CK techniques

Execution → Defense Evasion

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
- T1574.001DLL
Persistence
- T1574.001DLL
Priv Esc
- T1574.001DLL
Defense Evasion
- T1574.001DLL
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule flags process image loads where the loaded module name ends with \ShellDispatch.dll, which can indicate DLL sideloading attempts. Attackers may abuse this commonly named DLL to force execution of attacker-controlled code by influencing the module search/loading path. The detection relies on Windows image load telemetry that captures the full path of loaded DLLs, and it excludes specific temporary and user temp locations associated with likely benign activity.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1574.001 — drag to rearrange

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Windows ShellDispatch.dll DLL Sideloading via Image Load Monitoring

Pivot detection · T1574.001 · 9 related

Changelog

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

windows-dll-sideloading-via-shelldispatch-dll-image-load-844f8eb2

title: Windows ShellDispatch.dll DLL Sideloading via Image Load Monitoring
id: d8aae591-a1a2-4d1e-b921-bdd8a16cc607
status: test
description: This rule flags process image loads where the loaded module name ends with \ShellDispatch.dll, which can indicate DLL sideloading attempts. Attackers may abuse this commonly named DLL to force execution of attacker-controlled code by influencing the module search/loading path. The detection relies on Windows image load telemetry that captures the full path of loaded DLLs, and it excludes specific temporary and user temp locations associated with likely benign activity.
references:
  - https://www.hexacorn.com/blog/2023/06/07/this-lolbin-doesnt-exist/
  - https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/windows/image_load/image_load_side_load_shelldispatch.yml
author: X__Junior (Nextron Systems), Huntrule Team
date: 2023-06-20
tags:
  - attack.persistence
  - attack.privilege-escalation
  - attack.execution
  - attack.stealth
  - attack.t1574.001
logsource:
  category: image_load
  product: windows
detection:
  selection:
    ImageLoaded|endswith: \ShellDispatch.dll
  filter_main_legit_path:
    - ImageLoaded|contains|all:
        - :\Users\
        - \AppData\Local\Temp\
    - ImageLoaded|contains: :\Windows\Temp\
  condition: selection and not 1 of filter_main_*
falsepositives:
  - Some installers may trigger some false positives
level: medium
license: DRL-1.1
related:
  - id: 844f8eb2-610b-42c8-89a4-47596e089663
    type: derived

Convert

This rule as a query you can run. Uses no unlock credit.

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