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Suspicious Rundll32 Setupapi.dll Activity

sigma MEDIUM SigmaHQ
T1218.011
imProcessCreate
persistence
This rule was pulled from an open-source repository and enriched with AI. Validate in a test environment before deploying to production.
View original rule at SigmaHQ →
Retrieved: 2026-05-19T11:00:00Z · Confidence: medium

Hunt Hypothesis

setupapi.dll library provide InstallHinfSection function for processing INF files. INF file may contain instructions allowing to create values in the registry, modify files and install drivers. This t

Detection Rule

Sigma (Original)

title: Suspicious Rundll32 Setupapi.dll Activity
id: 285b85b1-a555-4095-8652-a8a4106af63f
status: test
description: setupapi.dll library provide InstallHinfSection function for processing INF files. INF file may contain instructions allowing to create values in the registry, modify files and install drivers. This technique could be used to obtain persistence via modifying one of Run or RunOnce registry keys, run process or use other DLLs chain calls (see references) InstallHinfSection function in setupapi.dll calls runonce.exe executable regardless of actual content of INF file.
references:
    - https://lolbas-project.github.io/lolbas/Libraries/Setupapi/
    - https://gist.githubusercontent.com/bohops/0cc6586f205f3691e04a1ebf1806aabd/raw/baf7b29891bb91e76198e30889fbf7d6642e8974/calc_exe.inf
    - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/huntresslabs/evading-autoruns/master/shady.inf
    - https://twitter.com/Z3Jpa29z/status/1313742350292746241?s=20
author: Konstantin Grishchenko, oscd.community
date: 2020-10-07
modified: 2021-11-27
tags:
    - attack.stealth
    - attack.t1218.011
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection:
        Image|endswith: '\runonce.exe'
        ParentImage|endswith: '\rundll32.exe'
        ParentCommandLine|contains|all:
            - 'setupapi.dll'
            - 'InstallHinfSection'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Scripts and administrative tools that use INF files for driver installation with setupapi.dll
level: medium

KQL (Azure Sentinel)

imProcessCreate
| where TargetProcessName endswith "\\runonce.exe" and (ParentProcessName endswith "\\rundll32.exe" or ActingProcessName endswith "\\rundll32.exe") and (ActingProcessCommandLine contains "setupapi.dll" and ActingProcessCommandLine contains "InstallHinfSection")

Required Data Sources

Sentinel TableNotes
imProcessCreateEnsure this data connector is enabled

False Positive Guidance

MITRE ATT&CK Context

References

Original source: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_rundll32_setupapi_installhinfsection.yml