ID | Technique | Tactic |
---|---|---|
T1489 | Service Stop | Impact |
Detection: Windows Service Deletion In Registry
Description
The following analytic detects the deletion of a service from the Windows Registry under CurrentControlSet\Services. It leverages data from the Endpoint.Registry datamodel, specifically monitoring registry paths and actions related to service deletion. This activity is significant as adversaries may delete services to evade detection and hinder incident response efforts. If confirmed malicious, this action could disrupt legitimate services, impair system functionality, and potentially allow attackers to maintain a lower profile within the environment, complicating detection and remediation efforts.
Search
1
2| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime FROM datamodel=Endpoint.Registry where Registry.registry_path= "*\\SYSTEM\\CurrentControlSet\\Services*" AND (Registry.action = deleted OR (Registry.registry_value_name = DeleteFlag AND Registry.registry_value_data = 0x00000001 AND Registry.action=modified)) by Registry.registry_key_name Registry.user Registry.registry_path Registry.registry_value_data Registry.registry_value_name Registry.action Registry.dest
3| `drop_dm_object_name(Registry)`
4| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
5| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
6| `windows_service_deletion_in_registry_filter`
Data Source
Name | Platform | Sourcetype | Source |
---|---|---|---|
Sysmon EventID 12 | Windows | 'xmlwineventlog' |
'XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational' |
Sysmon EventID 13 | Windows | 'xmlwineventlog' |
'XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational' |
Macros Used
Name | Value |
---|---|
security_content_ctime | convert timeformat="%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S" ctime($field$) |
windows_service_deletion_in_registry_filter | search * |
windows_service_deletion_in_registry_filter
is an empty macro by default. It allows the user to filter out any results (false positives) without editing the SPL.
Annotations
Default Configuration
This detection is configured by default in Splunk Enterprise Security to run with the following settings:
Setting | Value |
---|---|
Disabled | true |
Cron Schedule | 0 * * * * |
Earliest Time | -70m@m |
Latest Time | -10m@m |
Schedule Window | auto |
Creates Risk Event | True |
Implementation
To successfully implement this search you need to be ingesting information on process that include the name of the process responsible for the changes from your endpoints into the Endpoint
datamodel in the Registry
node. Also make sure that this registry was included in your config files ex. sysmon config to be monitored.
Known False Positives
This event can be seen when administrator delete a service or uninstall/reinstall a software that creates service entry, but it is still recommended to check this alert with high priority.
Associated Analytic Story
Risk Based Analytics (RBA)
Risk Message | Risk Score | Impact | Confidence |
---|---|---|---|
A service was deleted on $dest$ within the Windows registry. | 18 | 60 | 30 |
References
Detection Testing
Test Type | Status | Dataset | Source | Sourcetype |
---|---|---|---|---|
Validation | ✅ Passing | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Unit | ✅ Passing | Dataset | XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational |
XmlWinEventLog |
Integration | ✅ Passing | Dataset | XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational |
XmlWinEventLog |
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: GitHub | Version: 3