Windows Firewall Disabled via PowerShell

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Identifies when the Windows Firewall is disabled using PowerShell cmdlets, which can help attackers evade network constraints like internet and network lateral communication restrictions.

Rule type: eql

Rule indices:

  • logs-endpoint.events.*
  • winlogbeat-*
  • 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
  • Defense Evasion

Version: 4

Rule authors:

  • Austin Songer

Rule license: Elastic License v2

Investigation guide

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## Config

If enabling an EQL rule on a non-elastic-agent index (such as beats) for versions <8.2, events will not define `event.ingested` and default fallback for EQL rules was not added until 8.2, so you will need to add a custom pipeline to populate `event.ingested` to @timestamp for this rule to work.

Rule query

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process where event.action == "start" and
  (process.name : ("powershell.exe", "pwsh.exe", "powershell_ise.exe") or process.pe.original_file_name == "PowerShell.EXE") and
   process.args : "*Set-NetFirewallProfile*" and
  (process.args : "*-Enabled*" and process.args : "*False*") and
  (process.args : "*-All*" or process.args : ("*Public*", "*Domain*", "*Private*"))

Framework: MITRE ATT&CKTM