Disable Registry Tool
Description
The following analytic detects modifications to the Windows registry aimed at disabling the Registry Editor (regedit). It leverages data from the Endpoint.Registry data model, specifically monitoring changes to the registry path "*\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System\DisableRegistryTools" with a value of "0x00000001". This activity is significant because malware, such as RATs or trojans, often disable registry tools to prevent the removal of their entries, aiding in persistence and defense evasion. If confirmed malicious, this could hinder incident response efforts and allow the attacker to maintain control over the compromised system.
- Type: TTP
- Product: Splunk Enterprise, Splunk Enterprise Security, Splunk Cloud
- Datamodel: Endpoint
- Last Updated: 2024-05-14
- Author: Steven Dick, Teoderick Contreras, Splunk
- ID: cd2cf33c-9201-11eb-a10a-acde48001122
Annotations
ATT&CK
Kill Chain Phase
- Exploitation
NIST
- DE.CM
CIS20
- CIS 10
CVE
Search
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| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count FROM datamodel=Endpoint.Registry WHERE (Registry.registry_path= "*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Policies\\System\\DisableRegistryTools" Registry.registry_value_data = "0x00000001") BY _time span=1h Registry.user Registry.dest Registry.registry_path Registry.registry_key_name Registry.registry_value_name Registry.registry_value_data Registry.process_guid
| `drop_dm_object_name(Registry)`
| where isnotnull(registry_value_data)
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
| `disable_registry_tool_filter`
Macros
The SPL above uses the following Macros:
disable_registry_tool_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
- 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
admin may disable this application for non technical user.
Associated Analytic Story
RBA
Risk Score | Impact | Confidence | Message |
---|---|---|---|
40.0 | 40 | 100 | Disabled Registry Tools 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
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: 6