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Windows DLL Sideloading Indicators: 7za.dll Loaded from Non-Program Files Paths

Alerts when a process loads 7za.dll from a non-Program Files path, indicating potential DLL sideloading.

FreeReviewedSigma · Low · v2
Product
windows
Category
image_load
Author
X__Junior (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2023-06-09
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 identifies Windows processes that load an image ending with "\7za.dll" while not loading it from the common "C:\Program Files" or "C:\Program Files (x86)" directories. DLL sideloading can allow an attacker to execute malicious code by influencing the location a process searches for dependencies. The detection relies on image load telemetry indicating the full loaded module path (ImageLoaded) and applies allowlisting for Program Files locations.

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 Indicators: 7za.dll Loaded from Non-Program Files Paths
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.