Detection rules › Splunk
Disabling Task Manager
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.
MITRE ATT&CK coverage
| Tactic | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Defense Evasion | T1562.001 Impair Defenses: Disable or Modify Tools |
Event coverage
| Provider | Event ID | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Sysmon | 13 | RegistryEvent (Value Set) |
Stages and Predicates
Stage 1: tstats
tstats WHERE Registry.registry_path="*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Policies\\System\\DisableTaskMgr" Registry.registry_value_data="0x00000001" BY Registry.action, Registry.dest, Registry.process_guid, Registry.process_id, Registry.registry_hive, Registry.registry_path, Registry.registry_key_name, Registry.registry_value_data, Registry.registry_value_name, Registry.registry_value_type, Registry.status, Registry.user, Registry.vendor_product
Stage 2: search
search
Stage 3: where
where isnotnull(registry_value_data)
Stage 4: search
search
Stage 5: search
search
Stage 6: search
search `macro`
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 |
|---|---|---|
Registry.registry_path | eq |
|
Registry.registry_value_data | eq |
|