Windows DLL Hijacking via Forced Load of C:\Windows\ADFS\version.dll
Alert on loading C:\Windows\ADFS\version.dll, a DLL hijacking indicator consistent with the FoggyWeb technique.
- Product
- windows
- Category
- image_load
- Author
- Florian Roth (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
- Published
- 2021-09-27
- Updated
- 2026-07-31
ATT&CK techniques
Resource DevRecon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact
What it detects
This rule flags image load events where the process loads C:\Windows\ADFS\version.dll from the ADFS directory. Loading an unexpected or malicious DLL under a legitimate name is a common DLL hijacking technique that can provide attackers code execution within a trusted process context. It relies on Windows image load telemetry that records the fully qualified DLL path loaded by a process.
Reporting behind it
Changelog
v5- v5Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
- v4Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
- v3Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
- v2Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
- v1No 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.
title: Windows DLL Hijacking via Forced Load of C:\Windows\ADFS\version.dll
id: 1ed072ee-5e5c-4826-9d1e-cb49345fdf5e
status: test
description: This rule flags image load events where the process loads C:\Windows\ADFS\version.dll from the ADFS directory. Loading an unexpected or malicious DLL under a legitimate name is a common DLL hijacking technique that can provide attackers code execution within a trusted process context. It relies on Windows image load telemetry that records the fully qualified DLL path loaded by a process.
references:
- https://www.microsoft.com/security/blog/2021/09/27/foggyweb-targeted-nobelium-malware-leads-to-persistent-backdoor/
- https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules-emerging-threats/2021/Malware/FoggyWeb/image_load_malware_foggyweb_nobelium.yml
author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), Huntrule Team
date: 2021-09-27
modified: 2022-12-09
tags:
- attack.resource-development
- attack.t1587
- detection.emerging-threats
logsource:
category: image_load
product: windows
detection:
selection:
ImageLoaded: C:\Windows\ADFS\version.dll
condition: selection
falsepositives:
- Unlikely
level: critical
license: DRL-1.1
related:
- id: 640dc51c-7713-4faa-8a0e-e7c0d9d4654c
type: derived