Detection rules › Sigma
System Control Panel Item Loaded From Uncommon Location
Detects image load events of system control panel items (.cpl) from uncommon or non-system locations that may indicate DLL sideloading or other abuse techniques.
MITRE ATT&CK coverage
| Tactic | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Execution | T1574.001 Hijack Execution Flow: DLL |
| Stealth | T1574.001 Hijack Execution Flow: DLL |
Event coverage
| Provider | Event | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Sysmon | Event ID 7 | Image loaded |
Rule body yaml
title: System Control Panel Item Loaded From Uncommon Location
id: 2b140a5c-dc02-4bb8-b6b1-8bdb45714cde
status: test
description: |
Detects image load events of system control panel items (.cpl) from uncommon or non-system locations that may indicate DLL sideloading or other abuse techniques.
references:
- https://www.hexacorn.com/blog/2024/01/06/1-little-known-secret-of-fondue-exe/
- https://www.hexacorn.com/blog/2024/01/01/1-little-known-secret-of-hdwwiz-exe/
- https://github.com/mhaskar/FsquirtCPLPoC
- https://securelist.com/sidewinder-apt/114089/
author: Anish Bogati
date: 2024-01-09
modified: 2026-02-17
tags:
- attack.persistence
- attack.privilege-escalation
- attack.execution
- attack.stealth
- attack.t1574.001
logsource:
product: windows
category: image_load
detection:
selection:
ImageLoaded|endswith:
- '\appwiz.cpl' # Usually loaded by fondue.exe
- '\bthprops.cpl' # Usually loaded by fsquirt.exe
- '\hdwwiz.cpl' # Usually loaded by hdwwiz.exe
filter_main_legit_location:
ImageLoaded|startswith:
- 'C:\Windows\Prefetch\'
- 'C:\Windows\System32\'
- 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\'
- 'C:\Windows\WinSxS\'
condition: selection and not 1 of filter_main_*
falsepositives:
- Unknown
level: high
regression_tests_path: regression_data/rules/windows/image_load/image_load_side_load_cpl_from_non_system_location/info.yml
Stages and Predicates
Stage 0: condition
selection and not 1 of filter_main_*Stage 1: selection
selection:
ImageLoaded|endswith:
- '\appwiz.cpl'
- '\bthprops.cpl'
- '\hdwwiz.cpl'
Stage 2: not filter_main_legit_location
filter_main_legit_location:
ImageLoaded|startswith:
- 'C:\Windows\Prefetch\'
- 'C:\Windows\System32\'
- 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\'
- 'C:\Windows\WinSxS\'
Exclusions
Top-level NOT(...) conjuncts: predicates this rule actively suppresses.
| Field | Kind | Excluded values |
|---|---|---|
ImageLoaded | starts_with | C:\Windows\Prefetch\ |
ImageLoaded | starts_with | C:\Windows\SysWOW64\ |
ImageLoaded | starts_with | C:\Windows\System32\ |
ImageLoaded | starts_with | C:\Windows\WinSxS\ |
Indicators
Each row is a field, operator, and value that the rule matches. The corpus column counts how many other rules in the catalog look for the same combination: high numbers point to widely-used, community-vetted indicators. Blank or 1 shows that the indicator is specific to this rule.
| Field | Kind | Values |
|---|---|---|
ImageLoaded | ends_with |
|