Uncommon Registry Persistence Change

edit

Detects changes to registry persistence keys that are uncommonly used or modified by legitimate programs. This could be an indication of an adversary’s attempt to persist in a stealthy manner.

Rule type: eql

Rule indices:

  • winlogbeat-*
  • logs-endpoint.events.*
  • logs-windows.*

Severity: medium

Risk score: 47

Runs every: 5m

Searches indices from: now-9m (Date Math format, see also Additional look-back time)

Maximum alerts per execution: 100

References:

Tags:

  • Elastic
  • Host
  • Windows
  • Threat Detection
  • Persistence

Version: 4

Rule authors:

  • Elastic

Rule license: Elastic License v2

Rule query

edit
registry where
  /* uncomment once stable length(registry.data.strings) > 0 and */
 registry.path : (
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Terminal Server\\Install\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Run\\*",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Terminal Server\\Install\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Runonce\\*",
      "HKEY_USERS\\*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Windows\\Load",
      "HKEY_USERS\\*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Windows\\Run",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Windows\\IconServiceLib",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Winlogon\\Shell",
      "HKEY_USERS\\*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Winlogon\\Shell",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Winlogon\\AppSetup",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Winlogon\\Taskman",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Winlogon\\Userinit",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Winlogon\\VmApplet",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Policies\\Explorer\\Run\\*",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Policies\\System\\Shell",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Policies\\Microsoft\\Windows\\System\\Scripts\\Logoff\\Script",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Policies\\Microsoft\\Windows\\System\\Scripts\\Logon\\Script",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Policies\\Microsoft\\Windows\\System\\Scripts\\Shutdown\\Script",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Policies\\Microsoft\\Windows\\System\\Scripts\\Startup\\Script",
      "HKEY_USERS\\*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Policies\\Explorer\\Run\\*",
      "HKEY_USERS\\*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Policies\\System\\Shell",
      "HKEY_USERS\\*\\SOFTWARE\\Policies\\Microsoft\\Windows\\System\\Scripts\\Logoff\\Script",
      "HKEY_USERS\\*\\SOFTWARE\\Policies\\Microsoft\\Windows\\System\\Scripts\\Logon\\Script",
      "HKEY_USERS\\*\\SOFTWARE\\Policies\\Microsoft\\Windows\\System\\Scripts\\Shutdown\\Script",
      "HKEY_USERS\\*\\SOFTWARE\\Policies\\Microsoft\\Windows\\System\\Scripts\\Startup\\Script",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Active Setup\\Installed Components\\*\\ShellComponent",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows CE Services\\AutoStartOnConnect\\MicrosoftActiveSync",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows CE Services\\AutoStartOnDisconnect\\MicrosoftActiveSync",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Ctf\\LangBarAddin\\*\\FilePath",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Internet Explorer\\Extensions\\*\\Exec",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Internet Explorer\\Extensions\\*\\Script",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Command Processor\\Autorun",
      "HKEY_USERS\\*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Ctf\\LangBarAddin\\*\\FilePath",
      "HKEY_USERS\\*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Internet Explorer\\Extensions\\*\\Exec",
      "HKEY_USERS\\*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Internet Explorer\\Extensions\\*\\Script",
      "HKEY_USERS\\*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Command Processor\\Autorun",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Image File Execution Options\\*\\VerifierDlls",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Winlogon\\GpExtensions\\*\\DllName",
      "HKLM\\SYSTEM\\ControlSet*\\Control\\SafeBoot\\AlternateShell",
      "HKLM\\SYSTEM\\ControlSet*\\Control\\Terminal Server\\Wds\\rdpwd\\StartupPrograms",
      "HKLM\\SYSTEM\\ControlSet*\\Control\\Terminal Server\\WinStations\\RDP-Tcp\\InitialProgram",
      "HKLM\\SYSTEM\\ControlSet*\\Control\\Session Manager\\BootExecute",
      "HKLM\\SYSTEM\\ControlSet*\\Control\\Session Manager\\SetupExecute",
      "HKLM\\SYSTEM\\ControlSet*\\Control\\Session Manager\\Execute",
      "HKLM\\SYSTEM\\ControlSet*\\Control\\Session Manager\\S0InitialCommand",
      "HKLM\\SYSTEM\\ControlSet*\\Control\\ServiceControlManagerExtension",
      "HKLM\\SYSTEM\\ControlSet*\\Control\\BootVerificationProgram\\ImagePath",
      "HKLM\\SYSTEM\\Setup\\CmdLine",
      "HKEY_USERS\\*\\Environment\\UserInitMprLogonScript") and

 not registry.data.strings : ("C:\\Windows\\system32\\userinit.exe", "cmd.exe", "C:\\Program Files (x86)\\*.exe",
                              "C:\\Program Files\\*.exe") and
 not (process.name : "rundll32.exe" and registry.path : "*\\Software\\Microsoft\\Internet Explorer\\Extensions\\*\\Script") and
 not process.executable : ("C:\\Windows\\System32\\msiexec.exe",
                           "C:\\Windows\\SysWOW64\\msiexec.exe",
                           "C:\\ProgramData\\Microsoft\\Windows Defender\\Platform\\*\\MsMpEng.exe",
                           "C:\\Program Files\\*.exe",
                           "C:\\Program Files (x86)\\*.exe")

Framework: MITRE ATT&CKTM