Potential Waveedit.DLL Sideloading

Status: test
Severity: high
Log source: category image_load, product windows
Author: X__Junior (Nextron Systems)
Source: github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma

Detects potential DLL sideloading of "waveedit.dll", which is part of the Nero WaveEditor audio editing software.

Known false positives

Unlikely

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Execution	`T1574.001` Hijack Execution Flow: DLL
Stealth	`T1574.001` Hijack Execution Flow: DLL

Telemetry coverage

Provider	Record / event type
Sysmon	Event ID 7: Image loaded

Rule body

title: Potential Waveedit.DLL Sideloading
id: 71b31e99-9ad0-47d4-aeb5-c0ca3928eeeb
status: test
description: Detects potential DLL sideloading of "waveedit.dll", which is part of the Nero WaveEditor audio editing software.
references:
    - https://www.trendmicro.com/en_us/research/23/f/behind-the-scenes-unveiling-the-hidden-workings-of-earth-preta.html
author: X__Junior (Nextron Systems)
date: 2023-06-14
tags:
    - attack.persistence
    - attack.privilege-escalation
    - attack.execution
    - attack.stealth
    - attack.t1574.001
logsource:
    category: image_load
    product: windows
detection:
    selection:
        ImageLoaded|endswith: '\waveedit.dll'
    filter_main_legit_path:
        Image:
            - 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Nero\Nero Apps\Nero WaveEditor\waveedit.exe'
            - 'C:\Program Files\Nero\Nero Apps\Nero WaveEditor\waveedit.exe'
        ImageLoaded|startswith:
            - 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Nero\Nero Apps\Nero WaveEditor\'
            - 'C:\Program Files\Nero\Nero Apps\Nero WaveEditor\'
    condition: selection and not 1 of filter_main_*
falsepositives:
    - Unlikely
level: high

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

selection and not 1 of filter_main_*

Stage 1: `selection`

selection:
    ImageLoaded|endswith: '\waveedit.dll'

Stage 2: `not filter_main_legit_path`

filter_main_legit_path:
    Image:
        - 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Nero\Nero Apps\Nero WaveEditor\waveedit.exe'
        - 'C:\Program Files\Nero\Nero Apps\Nero WaveEditor\waveedit.exe'
    ImageLoaded|startswith:
        - 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Nero\Nero Apps\Nero WaveEditor\'
        - 'C:\Program Files\Nero\Nero Apps\Nero WaveEditor\'

Exclusions

The rule actively suppresses these predicates.

Field	Kind	Excluded values	Search
`Image`	eq	`C:\Program Files (x86)\Nero\Nero Apps\Nero WaveEditor\waveedit.exe`	`excludes:Image` `field:"Image" value:"C:\Program Files (x86)\Nero\Nero Apps\Nero WaveEditor\waveedit.exe"`
`Image`	eq	`C:\Program Files\Nero\Nero Apps\Nero WaveEditor\waveedit.exe`	`excludes:Image` `field:"Image" value:"C:\Program Files\Nero\Nero Apps\Nero WaveEditor\waveedit.exe"`
`ImageLoaded`	starts_with	`C:\Program Files (x86)\Nero\Nero Apps\Nero WaveEditor\`	`excludes:ImageLoaded` `field:"ImageLoaded" value:"C:\Program Files (x86)\Nero\Nero Apps\Nero WaveEditor\"`
`ImageLoaded`	starts_with	`C:\Program Files\Nero\Nero Apps\Nero WaveEditor\`	`excludes:ImageLoaded` `field:"ImageLoaded" value:"C:\Program Files\Nero\Nero Apps\Nero WaveEditor\"`

Indicators

These rows show field, operator, and value matches.

Field	Kind	Values	Search
`ImageLoaded`	ends_with	`\waveedit.dll`	`field:"ImageLoaded" kind:ends_with value:"\waveedit.dll"`