Disabling Task Manager
Description
The following analytic identifies modifications to the Windows registry that disable Task Manager. It leverages data from the Endpoint.Registry data model, specifically looking for changes to the registry path "*\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System\DisableTaskMgr" with a value of "0x00000001". This activity is significant as it is commonly associated with malware such as RATs, Trojans, and worms, which disable Task Manager to prevent users from terminating malicious processes. If confirmed malicious, this could allow attackers to maintain persistence and control over the infected system.
- Type: TTP
- Product: Splunk Enterprise, Splunk Enterprise Security, Splunk Cloud
- Datamodel: Endpoint
- Last Updated: 2024-05-15
- Author: Steven Dick, Teoderick Contreras, Splunk
- ID: dac279bc-9202-11eb-b7fb-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\\DisableTaskMgr" Registry.registry_value_data = "0x00000001") BY _time span=1h Registry.dest Registry.user 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)`
| `disabling_task_manager_filter`
Macros
The SPL above uses the following Macros:
disabling_task_manager_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.
- 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 |
---|---|---|---|
42.0 | 70 | 60 | The Windows Task Manager was disabled on $dest$ by $user$. |
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
- https://any.run/report/ea4ea08407d4ee72e009103a3b77e5a09412b722fdef67315ea63f22011152af/a866d7b1-c236-4f26-a391-5ae32213dfc4#registry
- https://blog.talosintelligence.com/2020/05/threat-roundup-0424-0501.html
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