Suspicious Msiexec Execute Arbitrary DLL — Sigma Rule

Rule metadata and linked tags

Author: frack113. Source status: test; severity: medium. Source dates: 2022-01-16 / 2026-01-09.

{
  "category": "process_creation",
  "product": "windows"
}

Pinned original Sigma rule · Detection Rule License 1.1

Source SHA-256: 177ffd35f8627762923311ca54d500fdc25ff0ed6457e5c486dd4bef820143f3

Detection logic

Original source YAML. Source-tag agreement is not proof of complete semantic coverage. This rule has not been compiled for a SIEM backend or validated against live telemetry here.

title: Suspicious Msiexec Execute Arbitrary DLL
id: 6f4191bb-912b-48a8-9ce7-682769541e6d
status: test
description: |
    Adversaries may abuse msiexec.exe to proxy execution of malicious payloads.
    Msiexec.exe is the command-line utility for the Windows Installer and is thus commonly associated with executing installation packages (.msi)
references:
    - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/msiexec
    - https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/f339e7da7d05f6057fdfcdd3742bfcf365fee2a9/atomics/T1218.007/T1218.007.md
    - https://twitter.com/_st0pp3r_/status/1583914515996897281
author: frack113
date: 2022-01-16
modified: 2026-01-09
tags:
    - attack.stealth
    - attack.t1218.007
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection:
        Image|endswith: '\msiexec.exe'
        CommandLine|contains|windash: ' /Y'
    filter_main_legit_path:
        CommandLine|contains:
            - '\MsiExec.exe" /Y "C:\Program Files\'
            - '\MsiExec.exe" /Y "C:\Program Files (x86)\'
            - '\MsiExec.exe" /Y "C:\Windows\System32\'
            - '\MsiExec.exe" /Y "C:\Windows\SysWOW64\'
    condition: selection and not 1 of filter_main_*
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate script
level: medium

Original YAML and metadata in JSON

False positives

• Legitimate script

Source references

• https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/msiexec
• https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/f339e7da7d05f6057fdfcdd3742bfcf365fee2a9/atomics/T1218.007/T1218.007.md
• https://twitter.com/_st0pp3r_/status/1583914515996897281