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Description

The following analytic detects a suspicious query on the uninstall application list in the Windows OS registry. It leverages Windows Security Event logs, specifically event code 4663, to identify access to the "Uninstall" registry key. This activity is significant because adversaries or malware can exploit this key to gather information about installed applications, aiding in further attacks. If confirmed malicious, this behavior could allow attackers to map out installed software, potentially identifying vulnerabilities or software to exploit, leading to further system compromise.

  • Type: Anomaly

  • Product: Splunk Enterprise, Splunk Enterprise Security, Splunk Cloud

  • Last Updated: 2024-05-31
  • Author: Teoderick Contreras, Splunk
  • ID: 535fd4fc-7151-4062-9d7e-e896bea77bf6

Annotations

ATT&CK

ATT&CK

ID Technique Tactic
T1012 Query Registry Discovery
Kill Chain Phase
  • Exploitation
NIST
  • DE.AE
CIS20
  • CIS 10
CVE 


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`wineventlog_security` EventCode=4663 object_file_path="\\REGISTRY\\MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\WOW6432Node\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Uninstall\\*" 
| stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime by object_file_name object_file_path process_name process_path  process_id EventCode dest 
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` 
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` 
| `windows_query_registry_uninstall_program_list_filter`

Macros

The SPL above uses the following Macros:

:information_source: windows_query_registry_uninstall_program_list_filter is a empty macro by default. It allows the user to filter out any results (false positives) without editing the SPL.

Required fields

List of fields required to use this analytic.

  • _time
  • object_file_name
  • object_file_path
  • process_name
  • process_path
  • process_id
  • EventCode
  • dest

How To Implement

To successfully implement this search, you must ingest Windows Security Event logs and track event code 4663. For 4663, enable "Audit Object Access" in Group Policy. Then check the two boxes listed for both "Success" and "Failure."

Known False Positives

Uninstall application may access this registry to remove the entry of the target application. Filter is needed.

Associated Analytic Story

RBA

Risk Score Impact Confidence Message
25.0 50 50 A suspicious process $process_name$ accessing uninstall registry on $dest$

:information_source: The Risk Score is calculated by the following formula: Risk Score = (Impact * Confidence/100). Initial Confidence and Impact is set by the analytic author.

Reference

Test Dataset

Replay any dataset to Splunk Enterprise by using our replay.py tool or the UI. Alternatively you can replay a dataset into a Splunk Attack Range

source | version: 2