Detection rules › YARA-L
Windows Event Log Cleared
Detects the clearing of event logs within the Windows Event Viewer.
MITRE ATT&CK coverage
| Tactic | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Stealth | T1070.001 Indicator Removal: Clear Windows Event Logs |
Event coverage
| Provider | Event | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Sysmon | Event ID 1 | Process creation |
| Security-Auditing | Event ID 4688 | A new process has been created. |
| Eventlog | Event ID 1102 | The audit log was cleared. |
Rule body yaral
/*
* Copyright 2023 Google LLC
*
* Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
* you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
* You may obtain a copy of the License at
*
* https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
*
* Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
* distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
* WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
* See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
* limitations under the License.
*/
rule windows_event_log_cleared {
meta:
author = "Google Cloud Security"
description = "Detects the clearing of event logs within the Windows Event Viewer. "
rule_id = "mr_067f3ee9-9bc6-400d-9ba5-bebe7253482f"
rule_name = "Windows Event Log Cleared"
type = "alert"
data_source = "microsoft sysmon, microsoft windows events"
platform = "Windows"
tactic = "TA0005"
technique = "T1070.001"
severity = "Medium"
priority = "Medium"
events:
(
$process.metadata.event_type = "PROCESS_LAUNCH" and
// currently the command line is focused on the three primary log sets, could expand this further if desired
re.regex($process.target.process.command_line, `wevtutil.*cl.*(system|application|security)`) nocase
)
or
(
$process.metadata.event_type = "SYSTEM_AUDIT_LOG_WIPE" and
$process.metadata.vendor_name = "Microsoft"
)
or
(
$process.metadata.event_type = "STATUS_UPDATE" and
$process.metadata.product_name = "PowerShell" and
$process.metadata.vendor_name = "Microsoft" and
(
re.regex($process.security_result.description, `Remove-EventLog`) nocase or
re.regex($process.security_result.description, `Clear-EventLog`) nocase
)
)
$process.principal.hostname = $hostname
match:
$hostname over 5m
outcome:
$risk_score = 65
$event_count = count_distinct($process.metadata.id)
$process_description = array_distinct($process.metadata.description)
// added to populate alert graph with additional context
// Commented out principal.hostname because it is already represented in graph as match variable. If match changes, can uncomment to add to results
//$principal_hostname = array_distinct($process.principal.hostname)
$principal_process_pid = array_distinct($process.principal.process.pid)
$principal_process_command_line = array_distinct($process.principal.process.command_line)
$principal_process_file_sha256 = array_distinct($process.principal.process.file.sha256)
$principal_process_file_full_path = array_distinct($process.principal.process.file.full_path)
$principal_process_product_specific_process_id = array_distinct($process.principal.process.product_specific_process_id)
$principal_process_parent_process_product_specific_process_id = array_distinct($process.principal.process.parent_process.product_specific_process_id)
$target_process_pid = array_distinct($process.target.process.pid)
$target_process_command_line = array_distinct($process.target.process.command_line)
$target_process_file_sha256 = array_distinct($process.target.process.file.sha256)
$target_process_file_full_path = array_distinct($process.target.process.file.full_path)
$target_process_product_specific_process_id = array_distinct($process.target.process.product_specific_process_id)
$principal_user_userid = array_distinct($process.principal.user.userid)
condition:
$process
}
Stages and Predicates
Stage 0: match + condition
match:
$hostname over 5m
condition:
$process
Fires when at least one $process event in the 5m window.
Stage 1: events: $process · PROCESS_LAUNCH
(
$process.metadata.event_type = "PROCESS_LAUNCH" and
// currently the command line is focused on the three primary log sets, could expand this further if desired
re.regex($process.target.process.command_line, `wevtutil.*cl.*(system|application|security)`) nocase
)
or
(
$process.metadata.event_type = "SYSTEM_AUDIT_LOG_WIPE" and
$process.metadata.vendor_name = "Microsoft"
)
or
(
$process.metadata.event_type = "STATUS_UPDATE" and
$process.metadata.product_name = "PowerShell" and
$process.metadata.vendor_name = "Microsoft" and
(
re.regex($process.security_result.description, `Remove-EventLog`) nocase or
re.regex($process.security_result.description, `Clear-EventLog`) nocase
)
)
$process.principal.hostname = $hostname
Indicators
Each row is a field, operator, and value that the rule matches. The corpus column counts how many other rules in the catalog look for the same combination: high numbers point to widely-used, community-vetted indicators. Blank or 1 shows that the indicator is specific to this rule.
| Field | Kind | Values |
|---|---|---|
security_result.description | regex_match |
|
target.process.command_line | regex_match |
|
Output fields
Fields the rule emits when it matches. Chronicle authors list these in the outcome block; they appear on the detection and $risk_score drives alerting. Sentinel / Defender XDR rules build them up through project / summarize / extend stages. Sentinel maps these into alert fields via entityMappings and customDetails; Defender XDR custom detections surface them as alert fields directly.
| Field | Source |
|---|---|
risk_score | 65 |
event_count | count_distinct($process.metadata.id) |
process_description | array_distinct($process.metadata.description) |
principal_process_pid | array_distinct($process.principal.process.pid) |
principal_process_command_line | array_distinct($process.principal.process.command_line) |
principal_process_file_sha256 | array_distinct($process.principal.process.file.sha256) |
principal_process_file_full_path | array_distinct($process.principal.process.file.full_path) |
principal_process_product_specific_process_id | array_distinct($process.principal.process.product_specific_process_id) |
principal_process_parent_process_product_specific_process_id | array_distinct($process.principal.process.parent_process.product_specific_process_id) |
target_process_pid | array_distinct($process.target.process.pid) |
target_process_command_line | array_distinct($process.target.process.command_line) |
target_process_file_sha256 | array_distinct($process.target.process.file.sha256) |
target_process_file_full_path | array_distinct($process.target.process.file.full_path) |
target_process_product_specific_process_id | array_distinct($process.target.process.product_specific_process_id) |
principal_user_userid | array_distinct($process.principal.user.userid) |