Detection: Windows Modify Registry Do Not Connect To Win Update

Updated Date: 2024-09-30 ID: e09c598e-8dd0-4e73-b740-4b96b689199e Author: Teoderick Contreras, Splunk Type: Anomaly Product: Splunk Enterprise Security

Description

The following analytic detects a suspicious modification to the Windows registry that disables automatic updates. It leverages data from the Endpoint datamodel, specifically monitoring changes to the registry path "*\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\DoNotConnectToWindowsUpdateInternetLocations" with a value of "0x00000001". This activity is significant as it can be used by adversaries, including malware like RedLine Stealer, to evade detection and prevent the system from receiving critical updates. If confirmed malicious, this could allow attackers to exploit vulnerabilities, persist in the environment, and potentially deploy additional payloads.

Search

1
2| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime from datamodel=Endpoint.Registry where Registry.registry_path="*\\SOFTWARE\\Policies\\Microsoft\\Windows\\WindowsUpdate\\DoNotConnectToWindowsUpdateInternetLocations" AND Registry.registry_value_data="0x00000001" by Registry.dest Registry.user Registry.registry_path Registry.registry_value_data Registry.registry_key_name 
3| `drop_dm_object_name(Registry)` 
4| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` 
5| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` 
6| `windows_modify_registry_do_not_connect_to_win_update_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_modify_registry_do_not_connect_to_win_update_filter	`search *`

windows_modify_registry_do_not_connect_to_win_update_filter is an empty macro by default. It allows the user to filter out any results (false positives) without editing the SPL.

Annotations

- MITRE ATT&CK

+ Kill Chain Phases

+ NIST

+ CIS

- Threat Actors

ID	Technique	Tactic
T1112	Modify Registry	Defense Evasion

KillChainPhase.EXPLOITAITON

NistCategory.DE_AE

Cis18Value.CIS_10

APT19

APT32

APT38

APT41

Aquatic Panda

Blue Mockingbird

Dragonfly

Earth Lusca

Ember Bear

FIN8

Gamaredon Group

Gorgon Group

Indrik Spider

Kimsuky

LuminousMoth

Magic Hound

Patchwork

Saint Bear

Silence

TA505

Threat Group-3390

Turla

Volt Typhoon

Wizard Spider

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

This configuration file applies to all detections of type anomaly. These detections will use Risk Based Alerting.

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 Processes node. In addition, confirm the latest CIM App 4.20 or higher is installed and the latest TA for the endpoint product.

Known False Positives

administrators may enable or disable this feature that may cause some false positive.

Associated Analytic Story

RedLine Stealer

Risk Based Analytics (RBA)

Risk Message	Risk Score	Impact	Confidence
a registry modification in Windows auto update configuration in $dest$	25	50	50

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

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