Detection rules › Sigma

Load Of RstrtMgr.DLL By An Uncommon Process

Status
test
Severity
low
Log source
category image_load, product windows
Author
Luc Génaux
Source
github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma

Detects the load of RstrtMgr DLL (Restart Manager) by an uncommon process. This library has been used during ransomware campaigns to kill processes that would prevent file encryption by locking them (e.g. Conti ransomware, Cactus ransomware). It has also recently been seen used by the BiBi wiper for Windows. It could also be used for anti-analysis purposes by shut downing specific processes.

Known false positives

  • Other legitimate Windows processes not currently listed
  • Processes related to software installation

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

TacticTechniques
Defense Impairment
Impact

Telemetry coverage

ProviderRecord / event type
SysmonEvent ID 7: Image loaded

Rule body

title: Load Of RstrtMgr.DLL By An Uncommon Process
id: 3669afd2-9891-4534-a626-e5cf03810a61
related:
    - id: b48492dc-c5ef-4572-8dff-32bc241c15c8
      type: derived
status: test
description: |
    Detects the load of RstrtMgr DLL (Restart Manager) by an uncommon process.
    This library has been used during ransomware campaigns to kill processes that would prevent file encryption by locking them (e.g. Conti ransomware, Cactus ransomware). It has also recently been seen used by the BiBi wiper for Windows.
    It could also be used for anti-analysis purposes by shut downing specific processes.
references:
    - https://www.crowdstrike.com/blog/windows-restart-manager-part-1/
    - https://www.crowdstrike.com/blog/windows-restart-manager-part-2/
    - https://web.archive.org/web/20231221193106/https://www.swascan.com/cactus-ransomware-malware-analysis/
    - https://taiwan.postsen.com/business/88601/Hamas-hackers-use-data-destruction-software-BiBi-which-consumes-a-lot-of-processor-resources-to-wipe-Windows-computer-data--iThome.html
author: Luc Génaux
date: 2023-11-28
modified: 2026-07-28
tags:
    - attack.impact
    - attack.defense-impairment
    - attack.t1486
    - attack.t1685
logsource:
    category: image_load
    product: windows
detection:
    selection:
        - ImageLoaded|endswith: '\RstrtMgr.dll'
        - OriginalFileName: 'RstrtMgr.dll'
    filter_main_generic:
        Image|startswith:
            - 'C:\$WINDOWS.~BT\'
            - 'C:\$WinREAgent\'
            - 'C:\Program Files (x86)\'
            - 'C:\Program Files\'
            - 'C:\ProgramData\'
            - 'C:\Windows\explorer.exe'
            - 'C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\'
            - 'C:\Windows\SysNative\'
            - 'C:\Windows\System32\'
            - 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\'
            - 'C:\Windows\WinSxS\'
            - 'C:\WUDownloadCache\'
    filter_main_user_software_installations:
        Image|startswith: 'C:\Users\'
        Image|contains|all:
            - '\AppData\Local\Temp\is-'
            - '.tmp\'
        Image|endswith: '.tmp'
    filter_main_admin_software_installations:
        Image|startswith: 'C:\Windows\Temp\'
    filter_optional_onedrive_1:
        Image|startswith: 'C:\Users\'
        Image|endswith:
            - '\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneDrive\OneDrive.exe'
            - '\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneDrive\OneDriveStandaloneUpdater.exe'
    filter_optional_onedrive_2:
        Image|startswith: 'C:\Users\'
        Image|contains: '\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneDrive\' # AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneDrive\26.062.0402.0002\OneDrive.Sync.Service.exe
        Image|endswith: '\OneDrive.Sync.Service.exe'
    condition: selection and not 1 of filter_main_* and not 1 of filter_optional_*
falsepositives:
    - Other legitimate Windows processes not currently listed
    - Processes related to software installation
level: low

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: condition

selection and not 1 of filter_main_* and not 1 of filter_optional_*

Stage 1: selection

selection:
    - ImageLoaded|endswith: '\RstrtMgr.dll'
    - OriginalFileName: 'RstrtMgr.dll'

Stage 2: not filter_main_*

filter_main_generic:
    Image|startswith:
        - 'C:\$WINDOWS.~BT\'
        - 'C:\$WinREAgent\'
        - 'C:\Program Files (x86)\'
        - 'C:\Program Files\'
        - 'C:\ProgramData\'
        - 'C:\Windows\explorer.exe'
        - 'C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\'
        - 'C:\Windows\SysNative\'
        - 'C:\Windows\System32\'
        - 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\'
        - 'C:\Windows\WinSxS\'
        - 'C:\WUDownloadCache\'
filter_main_user_software_installations:
    Image|startswith: 'C:\Users\'
    Image|contains|all:
        - '\AppData\Local\Temp\is-'
        - '.tmp\'
    Image|endswith: '.tmp'
filter_main_admin_software_installations:
    Image|startswith: 'C:\Windows\Temp\'

Stage 3: not filter_optional_*

filter_optional_onedrive_1:
    Image|startswith: 'C:\Users\'
    Image|endswith:
        - '\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneDrive\OneDrive.exe'
        - '\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneDrive\OneDriveStandaloneUpdater.exe'
filter_optional_onedrive_2:
    Image|startswith: 'C:\Users\'
    Image|contains: '\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneDrive\'
    Image|endswith: '\OneDrive.Sync.Service.exe'

Exclusions

The rule actively suppresses these predicates.

FieldKindExcluded valuesSearch
Imageends_with.tmpexcludes:Image field:"Image" value:".tmp"
Imagematch.tmp\excludes:Image field:"Image" value:".tmp\"
Imagematch\AppData\Local\Temp\is-excludes:Image field:"Image" value:"\AppData\Local\Temp\is-"
Imagestarts_withC:\Users\excludes:Image field:"Image" value:"C:\Users\"
Imagestarts_withC:\$WINDOWS.~BT\excludes:Image field:"Image" value:"C:\$WINDOWS.~BT\"
Imagestarts_withC:\$WinREAgent\excludes:Image field:"Image" value:"C:\$WinREAgent\"
Imagestarts_withC:\Program Files (x86)\excludes:Image field:"Image" value:"C:\Program Files (x86)\"
Imagestarts_withC:\Program Files\excludes:Image field:"Image" value:"C:\Program Files\"
Imagestarts_withC:\ProgramData\excludes:Image field:"Image" value:"C:\ProgramData\"
Imagestarts_withC:\WUDownloadCache\excludes:Image field:"Image" value:"C:\WUDownloadCache\"
Imagestarts_withC:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\excludes:Image field:"Image" value:"C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\"
Imagestarts_withC:\Windows\SysNative\excludes:Image field:"Image" value:"C:\Windows\SysNative\"
Imagestarts_withC:\Windows\SysWOW64\excludes:Image field:"Image" value:"C:\Windows\SysWOW64\"
Imagestarts_withC:\Windows\System32\excludes:Image field:"Image" value:"C:\Windows\System32\"
Imagestarts_withC:\Windows\Temp\excludes:Image field:"Image" value:"C:\Windows\Temp\"
Imagestarts_withC:\Windows\WinSxS\excludes:Image field:"Image" value:"C:\Windows\WinSxS\"
Imagestarts_withC:\Windows\explorer.exeexcludes:Image field:"Image" value:"C:\Windows\explorer.exe"
Imageends_with\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneDrive\OneDrive.exeexcludes:Image field:"Image" value:"\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneDrive\OneDrive.exe"
Imageends_with\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneDrive\OneDriveStandaloneUpdater.exeexcludes:Image field:"Image" value:"\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneDrive\OneDriveStandaloneUpdater.exe"
Imageends_with\OneDrive.Sync.Service.exeexcludes:Image field:"Image" value:"\OneDrive.Sync.Service.exe"
Imagematch\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneDrive\excludes:Image field:"Image" value:"\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneDrive\"

Indicators

These rows show field, operator, and value matches.

FieldKindValuesSearch
ImageLoadedends_with
  • \RstrtMgr.dll corpus 2 (sigma 2)
field:"ImageLoaded" kind:ends_with value:"\RstrtMgr.dll"
OriginalFileNameeq
  • RstrtMgr.dll corpus 2 (sigma 2)
field:"OriginalFileName" kind:eq value:"RstrtMgr.dll"