Windows UAC Bypass via iscsicpl.exe DLL Search Order Hijacking (iscsiexe.dll)

Detects iscsicpl.exe loading iscsiexe.dll from outside C:\Windows, consistent with UAC bypass DLL hijacking.

FreeReviewedSigma · High · v2

Product: windows
Category: image_load
Author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published: 2022-07-17
Updated: 2026-07-31

ATT&CK techniques

Priv Esc → Defense Evasion

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
- T1548.002Bypass User Account Control
Defense Evasion
- T1548.002Bypass User Account Control
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule identifies a likely UAC bypass attempt where SysWOW64\iscsicpl.exe loads a DLL ending with \iscsiexe.dll. It focuses on image loads where the loaded DLL path includes C:\Windows\ but is not consistent with the expected baseline described by the filter. Attackers may use this behavior to execute code in a higher-privileged context; the detection relies on Windows image load telemetry showing the initiating Image and the loaded DLL name/path.

Reporting behind it

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Windows UAC Bypass via iscsicpl.exe DLL Search Order Hijacking (iscsiexe.dll)

Pivot detection · T1548.002 · 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-uac-bypass-via-iscsicpl-exe-loading-malicious-dll-from-path-9ed5959a

title: Windows UAC Bypass via iscsicpl.exe DLL Search Order Hijacking (iscsiexe.dll)
id: 476004b2-563b-4e46-a1c9-7c915080cf24
status: test
description: This rule identifies a likely UAC bypass attempt where SysWOW64\iscsicpl.exe loads a DLL ending with \iscsiexe.dll. It focuses on image loads where the loaded DLL path includes C:\Windows\ but is not consistent with the expected baseline described by the filter. Attackers may use this behavior to execute code in a higher-privileged context; the detection relies on Windows image load telemetry showing the initiating Image and the loaded DLL name/path.
references:
  - https://github.com/hackerhouse-opensource/iscsicpl_bypassUAC
  - https://twitter.com/wdormann/status/1547583317410607110
  - https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/windows/image_load/image_load_uac_bypass_iscsicpl.yml
author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems), Huntrule Team
date: 2022-07-17
modified: 2022-07-25
tags:
  - attack.privilege-escalation
  - attack.t1548.002
logsource:
  product: windows
  category: image_load
detection:
  selection:
    Image: C:\Windows\SysWOW64\iscsicpl.exe
    ImageLoaded|endswith: \iscsiexe.dll
  filter:
    ImageLoaded|contains|all:
      - C:\Windows\
      - iscsiexe.dll
  condition: selection and not filter
falsepositives:
  - Unknown
level: high
license: DRL-1.1
related:
  - id: 9ed5959a-c43c-4c59-84e3-d28628429456
    type: derived

Convert

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SplunkSPL