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Description

The following analytic identifies modifications to registry keys commonly used for persistence mechanisms. It leverages data from endpoint detection sources like Sysmon or Carbon Black, focusing on specific registry paths known to initiate applications or services during system startup. This activity is significant as unauthorized changes to these keys can indicate attempts to maintain persistence or execute malicious actions upon system boot. If confirmed malicious, this could allow attackers to achieve persistent access, execute arbitrary code, or maintain control over compromised systems, posing a severe threat to system integrity and security.

  • Type: TTP
  • Product: Splunk Enterprise, Splunk Enterprise Security, Splunk Cloud
  • Datamodel: Endpoint
  • Last Updated: 2024-05-25
  • Author: Jose Hernandez, David Dorsey, Teoderick Contreras, Rod Soto, Splunk
  • ID: f5f6af30-7aa7-4295-bfe9-07fe87c01a4b

Annotations

ATT&CK

ATT&CK

ID Technique Tactic
T1547.001 Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder Persistence, Privilege Escalation
T1547 Boot or Logon Autostart Execution Persistence, Privilege Escalation
Kill Chain Phase
  • Installation
  • Exploitation
NIST
  • DE.CM
CIS20
  • CIS 10
CVE 


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| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime FROM datamodel=Endpoint.Registry where (Registry.registry_path=*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\RunOnce OR Registry.registry_path=*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Explorer\\StartupApproved\\Run OR Registry.registry_path= "*\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Explorer\\User Shell Folders\\*" OR Registry.registry_path= "*\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Explorer\\Shell Folders\\*" OR Registry.registry_path=*\\currentversion\\run* OR Registry.registry_path=*\\currentVersion\\Windows\\Appinit_Dlls* OR Registry.registry_path=*\\CurrentVersion\\Winlogon\\Shell* OR Registry.registry_path=*\\CurrentVersion\\Winlogon\\Notify* OR Registry.registry_path=*\\CurrentVersion\\Winlogon\\Userinit* OR Registry.registry_path=*\\CurrentVersion\\Winlogon\\VmApplet* OR Registry.registry_path=*\\currentversion\\policies\\explorer\\run* OR Registry.registry_path=*\\currentversion\\runservices* OR Registry.registry_path=HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Netsh\\* OR Registry.registry_path= "*\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Explorer\\Shell Folders\\Common Startup" OR Registry.registry_path= *\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Explorer\\SharedTaskScheduler OR Registry.registry_path= *\\Classes\\htmlfile\\shell\\open\\command OR (Registry.registry_path="*Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Image File Execution Options*" AND Registry.registry_key_name=Debugger) OR (Registry.registry_path="*\\CurrentControlSet\\Control\\Lsa" AND Registry.registry_key_name="Security Packages") OR (Registry.registry_path="*\\CurrentControlSet\\Control\\Lsa\\OSConfig" AND Registry.registry_key_name="Security Packages") OR (Registry.registry_path="*\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\SilentProcessExit\\*") OR (Registry.registry_path="*currentVersion\\Windows" AND Registry.registry_key_name="Load") OR (Registry.registry_path="*\\CurrentVersion" AND Registry.registry_key_name="Svchost") OR (Registry.registry_path="*\\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager"AND Registry.registry_key_name="BootExecute") OR (Registry.registry_path="*\\Software\\Run" AND Registry.registry_key_name="auto_update")) by Registry.dest Registry.user Registry.registry_path Registry.registry_value_name Registry.registry_value_data Registry.process_guid Registry.registry_key_name 
| `drop_dm_object_name(Registry)` 
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` 
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` 
| `registry_keys_used_for_persistence_filter`

Macros

The SPL above uses the following Macros:

:information_source: registry_keys_used_for_persistence_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.registry_key_name
  • Registry.registry_path
  • Registry.dest
  • Registry.user

How To Implement

To successfully implement this search, you must be ingesting data that records registry activity from your hosts to populate the endpoint data model in the registry node. This is typically populated via endpoint detection-and-response product, such as Carbon Black or endpoint data sources, such as Sysmon. The data used for this search is typically generated via logs that report reads and writes to the registry.

Known False Positives

There are many legitimate applications that must execute on system startup and will use these registry keys to accomplish that task.

Associated Analytic Story

RBA

Risk Score Impact Confidence Message
76.0 80 95 A registry activity in $registry_path$ related to persistence in host $dest$

: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: 10