Potential DLL Sideloading Of DBGCORE.DLL

 1title: Potential DLL Sideloading Of DBGCORE.DLL
 2id: 9ca2bf31-0570-44d8-a543-534c47c33ed7
 3status: test
 4description: Detects DLL sideloading of "dbgcore.dll"
 5references:
 6    - https://hijacklibs.net/ # For list of DLLs that could be sideloaded (search for dlls mentioned here in there)
 7author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems), Wietze Beukema (project and research)
 8date: 2022-10-25
 9modified: 2025-10-06
10tags:
11    - attack.persistence
12    - attack.privilege-escalation
13    - attack.execution
14    - attack.stealth
15    - attack.t1574.001
16logsource:
17    category: image_load
18    product: windows
19detection:
20    selection:
21        ImageLoaded|endswith: '\dbgcore.dll'
22    filter_main_generic:
23        ImageLoaded|startswith:
24            - 'C:\Program Files (x86)\'
25            - 'C:\Program Files\'
26            - 'C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\'
27            - 'C:\Windows\System32\'
28            - 'C:\Windows\SystemTemp\'
29            - 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\'
30            - 'C:\Windows\WinSxS\'
31    filter_optional_steam:
32        ImageLoaded|endswith: '\Steam\bin\cef\cef.win7x64\dbgcore.dll'
33    filter_optional_opera:
34        # C:\\Users\\User\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\.opera\\Opera Installer Temp\\opera_package_202311051506321\\assistant\\dbgcore.dll
35        ImageLoaded|contains: 'opera\Opera Installer Temp\opera_package'
36        ImageLoaded|endswith: '\assistant\dbgcore.dll'
37    condition: selection and not 1 of filter_main_* and not 1 of filter_optional_*
38falsepositives:
39    - Legitimate applications loading their own versions of the DLL mentioned in this rule
40level: medium