Windows Disable Windows Group Policy Features Through Registry
Description
The following analytic detects a suspicious registry modification used to disable windows features. This technique has been identified in several ransomware malware families to impair the compromised host and make it harder for analysts to mitigate or respond to an attack.
- Type: Anomaly
- Product: Splunk Enterprise, Splunk Enterprise Security, Splunk Cloud
- Datamodel: Endpoint
- Last Updated: 2022-11-14
- Author: Steven Dick, Teoderick Contreras, Splunk
- ID: 63a449ae-9f04-11ec-945e-acde48001122
Annotations
Kill Chain Phase
- Exploitation
NIST
- DE.CM
CIS20
- CIS 3
- CIS 5
- CIS 16
CVE
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| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count min(_time) AS firstTime max(_time) AS lastTime FROM datamodel=Endpoint.Processes BY _time span=1h Processes.user Processes.process_id Processes.process_name Processes.process Processes.process_path Processes.dest Processes.parent_process_name Processes.parent_process Processes.process_guid
| `drop_dm_object_name(Processes)`
| join process_guid [
| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count FROM datamodel=Endpoint.Registry WHERE (Registry.registry_path= "*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Policies\\Explorer\\*" OR Registry.registry_path= "*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Policies\\System\\*" Registry.registry_value_name IN ("NoDesktop", "NoFind", "NoControlPanel", "NoFileMenu", "NoSetTaskbar", "NoTrayContextMenu", "TaskbarLockAll", "NoThemesTab","NoPropertiesMyDocuments","NoVisualStyleChoice","NoColorChoice","NoPropertiesMyDocuments") Registry.registry_value_data = "0x00000001") BY _time span=1h Registry.registry_path Registry.registry_key_name Registry.registry_value_name Registry.registry_value_data Registry.process_guid
| `drop_dm_object_name(Registry)`]
| fields firstTime lastTime dest user parent_process_name parent_process process_name process_path process registry_key_name registry_path registry_value_name registry_value_data process_guid
| where isnotnull(registry_value_data)
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
| `windows_disable_windows_group_policy_features_through_registry_filter`
Macros
The SPL above uses the following Macros:
windows_disable_windows_group_policy_features_through_registry_filter is a empty macro by default. It allows the user to filter out any results (false positives) without editing the SPL.
Supported Add-on (TA)
List of Splunk Add-on’s tested to work with the analytic.
Required fields
List of fields required to use this analytic.
- _time
- Processes.user
- Processes.dest
- Processes.process_id
- Processes.process_name
- Processes.process
- Processes.process_path
- Processes.parent_process_name
- Processes.parent_process
- Processes.process_guid
- Registry.dest
- Registry.registry_value_name
- Registry.registry_key_name
- Registry.registry_path
- Registry.registry_value_data
- Registry.process_guid
How To Implement
To successfully implement this search, you need to be ingesting logs with the registry value name, registry path, and registry value data from your endpoints. If you are using Sysmon, you must have at least version 2.0 of the offical Sysmon TA. https://splunkbase.splunk.com/app/5709
Known False Positives
Disabling these features for legitimate purposes is not a common use case but can still be implemented by the administrators. Filter as needed.
Associated Analytic Story
- Ransomware
- Windows Defense Evasion Tactics
- Windows Registry Abuse
- Sneaky Active Directory Persistence Tricks
RBA
Risk Score | Impact | Confidence | Message |
---|---|---|---|
49.0 | 70 | 70 | Registry modification to disable windows features on $dest$ |
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
- https://hybrid-analysis.com/sample/ef1c427394c205580576d18ba68d5911089c7da0386f19d1ca126929d3e671ab?environmentId=120&lang=en
- https://www.sophos.com/en-us/threat-center/threat-analyses/viruses-and-spyware/Troj~Krotten-N/detailed-analysis
- https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/2d7855bf6470aa323edf2949b54ce2a04d9e38770f1322c3d0420c2303178d91/details
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: 3