DLL rules in AppLocker

This article describes the file formats and available default rules for the DLL rule collection.

AppLocker defines DLL rules to include only the following file formats:

  • .dll
  • .ocx

Important

If you use DLL rules, a DLL allow rule has to be created for each DLL that is used by all of the allowed apps, including Windows system files.

The following table lists the default rules that are available for the DLL rule collection.

Purpose Name User Rule condition type
Allows members of the local Administrators group to run all DLLs (Default Rule) All DLLs BUILTIN\Administrators Path: *
Allow all users to run DLLs in the Windows folder (Default Rule) Microsoft Windows DLLs Everyone Path: %windir%*
Allow all users to run DLLs in the Program Files folder (Default Rule) All DLLs located in the Program Files folder Everyone Path: %programfiles%*

Caution

When DLL rules are used, AppLocker must check each DLL that an app loads. Therefore, users may experience a reduction in performance if DLL rules are used on computers that are resource constrained.