System Control Panel Item Loaded From Uncommon Location

calendar Feb 28, 2026 · attack.defense-evasion attack.persistence attack.privilege-escalation attack.t1574.001  ·
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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.

Sigma rule (View on GitHub)

 1title: System Control Panel Item Loaded From Uncommon Location
 2id: 2b140a5c-dc02-4bb8-b6b1-8bdb45714cde
 3status: test
 4description: |
 5        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.
 6references:
 7    - https://www.hexacorn.com/blog/2024/01/06/1-little-known-secret-of-fondue-exe/
 8    - https://www.hexacorn.com/blog/2024/01/01/1-little-known-secret-of-hdwwiz-exe/
 9    - https://github.com/mhaskar/FsquirtCPLPoC
10    - https://securelist.com/sidewinder-apt/114089/
11author: Anish Bogati
12date: 2024-01-09
13modified: 2026-02-17
14tags:
15    - attack.defense-evasion
16    - attack.persistence
17    - attack.privilege-escalation
18    - attack.t1574.001
19logsource:
20    product: windows
21    category: image_load
22detection:
23    selection:
24        ImageLoaded|endswith:
25            - '\appwiz.cpl' # Usually loaded by fondue.exe
26            - '\bthprops.cpl' # Usually loaded by fsquirt.exe
27            - '\hdwwiz.cpl' # Usually loaded by hdwwiz.exe
28    filter_main_legit_location:
29        ImageLoaded|startswith:
30            - 'C:\Windows\Prefetch\'
31            - 'C:\Windows\System32\'
32            - 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\'
33            - 'C:\Windows\WinSxS\'
34    condition: selection and not 1 of filter_main_*
35falsepositives:
36    - Unknown
37level: high
38regression_tests_path: regression_data/rules/windows/image_load/image_load_side_load_cpl_from_non_system_location/info.yml

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