Windows Modify Registry Auto Minor Updates
Description
The following analytic identifies a suspicious modification to the Windows auto update configuration registry. It detects changes to the registry path "*\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU\AutoInstallMinorUpdates" with a value of "0x00000000". This activity is significant as it is commonly used by adversaries, including malware like RedLine Stealer, to bypass detection and deploy additional payloads. If confirmed malicious, this modification could allow attackers to evade defenses, potentially leading to further system compromise and exploitation of zero-day vulnerabilities.
- Type: Hunting
- Product: Splunk Enterprise, Splunk Enterprise Security, Splunk Cloud
- Datamodel: Endpoint, Updates
- Last Updated: 2024-05-20
- Author: Teoderick Contreras, Splunk
- ID: be498b9f-d804-4bbf-9fc0-d5448466b313
Annotations
Kill Chain Phase
- Exploitation
NIST
- DE.AE
CIS20
- CIS 10
CVE
Search
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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\\Policies\\Microsoft\\Windows\\WindowsUpdate\\AU\\AutoInstallMinorUpdates" AND Registry.registry_value_data="0x00000000" by Registry.dest Registry.user Registry.registry_path Registry.registry_value_data Registry.registry_key_name
| `drop_dm_object_name(Registry)`
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
| `windows_modify_registry_auto_minor_updates_filter`
Macros
The SPL above uses the following Macros:
windows_modify_registry_auto_minor_updates_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.user
- Registry.dest
- Registry.registry_value_name
- Registry.action
- Registry.registry_value_data
How To Implement
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
RBA
Risk Score | Impact | Confidence | Message |
---|---|---|---|
9.0 | 30 | 30 | A registry modification in Windows auto update configuration 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: 2