Windows: Office Application Loads VBE VBA DLLs via Image Load Events

Flags Office apps loading VBA-related VBE DLLs, a strong indicator of VBA macro execution.

FreeReviewedSigma · High · v2

Product: windows
Category: image_load
Author: Antonlovesdnb (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published: 2020-02-19
Updated: 2026-07-31

ATT&CK techniques

Execution

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
- T1204.002Malicious File
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule identifies when a Microsoft Office application process loads Visual Basic for Applications (VBE) DLLs such as VBE7.DLL and VBEUI.DLL. Loading these VBA-related modules can indicate that macros are being initialized and executed, which is a common attacker pathway for running code from Office documents. The detection relies on Windows image load telemetry that records ImageLoaded paths associated with Office executables like WINWORD.EXE, EXCEL.EXE, OUTLOOK.EXE, POWERPNT.EXE, and publisher/onenote variants.

Reporting behind it

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Windows: Office Application Loads VBE VBA DLLs via Image Load Events

Pivot detection · T1204.002 · 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-office-applications-loading-vbe-dlls-vba-runtime-indicators-e6ce8457

title: "Windows: Office Application Loads VBE VBA DLLs via Image Load Events"
id: cd5277e3-9748-4c5f-a7e6-01f5c4ede788
status: test
description: This rule identifies when a Microsoft Office application process loads Visual Basic for Applications (VBE) DLLs such as VBE7.DLL and VBEUI.DLL. Loading these VBA-related modules can indicate that macros are being initialized and executed, which is a common attacker pathway for running code from Office documents. The detection relies on Windows image load telemetry that records ImageLoaded paths associated with Office executables like WINWORD.EXE, EXCEL.EXE, OUTLOOK.EXE, POWERPNT.EXE, and publisher/onenote variants.
references:
  - https://medium.com/threatpunter/detecting-adversary-tradecraft-with-image-load-event-logging-and-eql-8de93338c16
  - https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/windows/image_load/image_load_office_vbadll_load.yml
author: Antonlovesdnb, Huntrule Team
date: 2020-02-19
modified: 2023-02-10
tags:
  - attack.execution
  - attack.t1204.002
logsource:
  category: image_load
  product: windows
detection:
  selection:
    Image|endswith:
      - \excel.exe
      - \mspub.exe
      - \onenote.exe
      - \onenoteim.exe
      - \outlook.exe
      - \powerpnt.exe
      - \winword.exe
    ImageLoaded|endswith:
      - \VBE7.DLL
      - \VBEUI.DLL
      - \VBE7INTL.DLL
  condition: selection
falsepositives:
  - Legitimate macro usage. Add the appropriate filter according to your environment
level: high
license: DRL-1.1
related:
  - id: e6ce8457-68b1-485b-9bdd-3c2b5d679aa9
    type: derived

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