Potential DLL Sideloading Of DBGCORE.DLL — Sigma Rule

Rule metadata and linked tags

Author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems), Wietze Beukema (project and research). Source status: test; severity: medium. Source dates: 2022-10-25 / 2025-10-06.

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

Pinned original Sigma rule · Detection Rule License 1.1

Source SHA-256: 08485dbe345660c4febc6e450772651efc188ea516acb222c94bef2c824aea87

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: Potential DLL Sideloading Of DBGCORE.DLL
id: 9ca2bf31-0570-44d8-a543-534c47c33ed7
status: test
description: Detects DLL sideloading of "dbgcore.dll"
references:
    - https://hijacklibs.net/ # For list of DLLs that could be sideloaded (search for dlls mentioned here in there)
author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems), Wietze Beukema (project and research)
date: 2022-10-25
modified: 2025-10-06
tags:
    - attack.persistence
    - attack.privilege-escalation
    - attack.execution
    - attack.stealth
    - attack.t1574.001
logsource:
    category: image_load
    product: windows
detection:
    selection:
        ImageLoaded|endswith: '\dbgcore.dll'
    filter_main_generic:
        ImageLoaded|startswith:
            - 'C:\Program Files (x86)\'
            - 'C:\Program Files\'
            - 'C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\'
            - 'C:\Windows\System32\'
            - 'C:\Windows\SystemTemp\'
            - 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\'
            - 'C:\Windows\WinSxS\'
    filter_optional_steam:
        ImageLoaded|endswith: '\Steam\bin\cef\cef.win7x64\dbgcore.dll'
    filter_optional_opera:
        # C:\\Users\\User\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\.opera\\Opera Installer Temp\\opera_package_202311051506321\\assistant\\dbgcore.dll
        ImageLoaded|contains: 'opera\Opera Installer Temp\opera_package'
        ImageLoaded|endswith: '\assistant\dbgcore.dll'
    condition: selection and not 1 of filter_main_* and not 1 of filter_optional_*
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate applications loading their own versions of the DLL mentioned in this rule
level: medium

Original YAML and metadata in JSON

False positives

• Legitimate applications loading their own versions of the DLL mentioned in this rule

Source references

• https://hijacklibs.net/